Hold My Hand
by Wing staff-4
Summary: Wall-E and EVE had learned a lot the past century of being together. One grim lesson they learned is that the world changes and as proof, nothing lasts. However, one thing is for sure: the only thing that will always last, is holding each others' hands.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

**Hello there, it's been a while since I last wrote something. (About two years) So this is my first fanfiction in a veery long time. Hopefully I will be able to finish this story as I have a nasty habit of losing motivation and not completing stories.**

**Anyway, just watched Wall-E a week ago and never before did a movie ever caught so much of my attention. Normally, I wouldn't buy movies to keep as I'll just get bored watching it over and over again. Wall-E however, was unlike any movie I've seen before. It touched me very deeply and I appreciated just how beautiful it is. And the romance between Wall-E and EVE had totally caught me on a net.**

**Before I start off, I would like to post a few warnings so as not to annoy many readers. I do not want to spoil any part of this story. (But there are some spoilers for the movie.) I would just like to apologize if the work isn't really that good. First of all, I'm not used to writing regular romance/drama as I'm more comfortable writing action and it reflects upon this work. Second of all, english is not my native and first language so please bear with me if there are grammatical errors. It's much appreciated if there is anything that I could do to improve as I write along.**

**I would also like to point out that this story, or some parts of it, may be confusing to some. Based on my writing style, it is somewhat expected especially since I'm trying to tackle the delicate, as well as difficult, communication and development of Wall-E and EVE. (Less talk, more action) And also, throughout the story, I will be referencing points that I had already gone through in the previous chapters. So, if there's a part you can't understand, going back to the previous chapter may help a lot. Rest assured, I'm going to go through the chapters to make it as understandable as possible before posting them. I would like to apologize if some characters will be slightly OOC but sometimes I can't help it especially if I'm trying to make a point. The mood of the story will be slightly melancholic-dark.**

**If there is any part of the story you do not understand, just PM me and I will gladly explain it to you. I will not explain anything through the reviews so as not to spoil parts of the story to others.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot of this work and some original characters. So without further ado:**

_Hold My Hand..._

* * *

Smooth, slender, beautiful, pure white fingers and rugged, rusty, ugly, damaged dark fingers. Two completely different sets, both are worlds apart. One thing is certain: they are both fingers. And despite their differences, they are intertwined perfectly with each other, expressing words- no, feelings that are powerful enough to bring both worlds together.

Powerful enough to bring back life. Two figures, oblivious to the world around them, completely incompatible with each other, yet held together by their fingers, had just learned of this power.

A few minutes ago, one was lost to the other.

Seven hundred years ago the other had been lost, searching for the one.

Now they had found each other, and their intertwined fingers will not separate them ever again.

* * *

It's been seven hundred years since the small trash compacting robot existed. It was another one hundred and fifty years when the robot lived. The words 'exist' and 'live' are alike in almost every aspect yet they are worlds apart. For the robot, he and his newfound companion too, were worlds apart.

He was a symbol of existence. She was the symbol of life.

He was loneliness. She was happiness.

This curious little robot pondered this fact as he tinkered with the things he found that day: A tire inner tubing, an antique table leg with a rusted wheel that spun three hundred sixty degrees, a torn rag, and a golf ball. The robot spun the roller that held his eight hundred and fifty year collection and organized the treasures he found that day, momentarily stopping at the two cups that held the spoons and forks. In between the cups lay one spork. He had actually collected two more of those a while back and he was already thinking about looking for a third cup to hold them.

He remembered when his companion came that time. She took one of the sporks and cut down the crevasses of the spork to turn it into a fork. She took the other spork, and wrapped up the top part with masking tape to cover the crevasses and turned it into a spoon. At that moment, she helped the robot organize that particular area. The robot gasped in horror and she simply giggled at his reaction. But she was merciful enough to leave the last one untouched.

EVE┘ She has changed so much since the little robot met her over a century ago. Her personality continued to develop as she spent her time with him. Now she was even nicer to be with; In fact, she was even more perfect than what she already was the first time he saw her. EVE has matured personality-wise- maybe even more than him.

The past one hundred and fifty years completed his life way more than the seven hundred years prior to that. Just like a normal, happy human, the robot knew that he had lived a good life. His binocular eyes slouched down in sadness as he turned the rollers to expose the 'other' items, or lack thereof. The robot looked up through the hole of his home at the dark, starry sky and saw a blue trail that drew circles in the sky.

That part of her never changed. She loved flying and he loved it too, simply because he loved her.

He looked back at the few items on the roller and sighed. He must not tell her.

* * *

Her sleek, aerodynamic frame cut through the wind. One thing she will never forget is flying. She loved the feeling of the wind against her body, the sound of it whistling by as she cut through it, as if it was moving aside to give her passage. Like a queen.

Robots did know what queens were and she was very well aware of that. But one particular robot; one that was as low as the trash he works with, made her understand what queens were.

Before, she simply knew what basic, essential function flying is for her design. He however, gave her the freedom in flying. He made it an art form and she was glad that he loved flying too. Unfortunately for them, he could not fly.

But that was fine for her. She didn't need him to have a fire extinguisher to fly; all she needed to do was hold his hand and they were both free.

She was a symbol of existence. He was the symbol of life.

She was loneliness. He was happiness.

Well, she actually did not know loneliness as much as Wall-E did but she could at least sympathize because she knew what it felt like to fly alone and unfree.

As soon as she entered their home, she saw him in his cube form, in sleep mode at his usual spot in the rollers. The roller he was on barely rocked back and forth. He used to rock himself to sleep every night when he was alone and it has turned into a habit for him.

'Habit'. That was a funny word. It was like 'programming' to a robot. But it was better because it sounded more, human... More alive.

With a smile on her eyes, EVE continued where he left off and gently rocked his roller for a while longer before retiring herself.


	2. Chapter 2

Dawn arrived and Wall-E's sensors detected the rise of the sun and the need to recharge. Groggily, the robot rolled out of his roller and into the more open space of his all too familiar home. He rolled past a still sleeping EVE towards his tread rack and slowly put on his treads.

After a long, but successful struggle, he opened the door of their home and with one quick glance at EVE, he rolled outside and onto the side of their home. He made his way to the top of the truck where the sun shone the brightest and unfolded his solar panels.

However, one of the panels did not unfold. It had to unfold so that the three additional panels below it could unfold. Wall-E tried manually prying the panel open with his robotic hands but instead, the panel cracked and broke off. Since there wasn't a panel blocking the way, the second and third panel unfolded. It wasn't much of a big problem for Wall-E since he still had other panels working fine. That is until the second panel, the panel that was right below the broken panel, was affected by the breaking and stopped functioning.

Wall-E looked at the broken panel in his hand and sighed dejectedly as he continued to receive his much needed charge.

Hopefully he could go back down and replace the two broken panels before EVE woke up. He did not want her to know. If she knew, then she'll find out that...

Nevermind. He didn't want to think about it.

Much to his dismay, when he rolled back down inside, the white probe awoke with a lively start.

Wall-E immediately hid the broken panel in his compactor and his binocular eyes faked a smile. "EeeVa!"

"Wall-E!" her beaming smile suddenly turned into a look of curiosity and she pointed at the yellow robot's front.

Wall-E's heart skipped a beat, or at least his processor did, for he believed she saw him hiding the broken panel. He froze in place as EVE hovered closer to him.

"Wall-E?" she questioned before tapping her outstretched finger on his energy meter. The charge wasn't full. Just a few bars short, and it concerned EVE since Wall-E always fully charges himself.

EVE watched as he rolled past her and went to his rollers. Slowly, he moved the rollers a bit, and fidgetted with the various items until he rolled back to her with a tiny light bulb. She took the bulb from his hand and grasped the end of it. With a quick burst of electricity, the bulb burned bright yellow.

Wall-E recovered the bulb from EVE and put it beside his energy meter. EVE's suspicious eyes turned back to its normal state as she began to understand that the bulb in his energy meter just needed to be replaced. Wall-E held EVE's hand and faked another smile from his binocular eyes. He knew that everytime he held her hand, her worries disappear. Right now was no exception.

EVE's eyes turned into upward crescents and she giggled, "Work"

Wall-E nodded and gave a fake giggle alongside her, "Eeva... To-night."

"Wall-E, work." She replied and gave him a spark kiss before turning around and hovering away.

The trash compactor watched as his companion left his sight before turning back to the rollers. He was very lucky that time. At least, he still had quite a number of lightbulbs to replace the broken ones in his energy meter. He knew very well that the bulb inside him was still functioning- he was just unable to do a full charge with two broken solar panels.

The bad thing was- And he spun the rollers to reveal all of his spare parts- He was running out of parts fast. There was nothing left to salvage from his fallen brethren. Months ago, he had paid a visit to the Axiom without EVE or anyone knowing to figure out a way to get his much needed parts...

That didn't work either.

Wall-E backed a little from the rollers and on the floor, he opened a secret compartment. He took the broken solar panel from his compactor and dropped it in the compartment alongside his other broken parts that were no longer replaceable. Eventually, he hoped he could repair them without EVE knowing. Luckily, all the broken parts were still minor things that could not be seen easily. So for a while, EVE did not know that there was already something wrong with him.

He just faked being okay.

Fake... Another funny word.

Ever since Wall-E and EVE met each other, they learned new words: Words like dancing, commitment (as they preferred the beauty of this human-like word from the monotonous, lifeless 'directive'), words like life, like freedom, like joy... They learned words like love.

Wall-E now learned the word 'fake'. That is because when he learned 'love', he learned that there's 'pain' that comes with it. He knew that EVE knows that word all too well and he did not want her to experience what that word entails ever again. That is why with 'pain', he learned 'fake'.

For a time being, Wall-E learned that word very well.

"F-fa-kah. Ffffake." Wall-E said before he closed the secret compartment.

* * *

The days went by the same way.

Wall-E rolled home one night, unable to completely finish his work. One of the hydraulics in his mini compactor began to malfunction and as a result, he could not compact trash as perfectly as before. He put on "Hello Dolly" to cheer him up as he searched his near empty stockpile of parts for replacements.

Just as he went through all the stuff, EVE surprised him by coming home early. She called out to him and that made him jump.

As quickly as EVE came home, Wall-E spun the rollers to hide the stockpile, or lack thereof, to put up a facade of his full collection of treasures to cover it. In his hurry, a garbage can lid fell on his head. Thinking quickly, Wall-E grabbed the lid and immediately danced to the tune of "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" which was conveniently playing in the movie at that time.

Wall-E sighed his relief when EVE giggled and gently took his hand. The white probe changed the scene of the movie to play, "It Only Takes A Moment" before taking Wall-E back in her arms and slowly dancing with him.

Soon, their dancing brought the two of them outside their home. Not long after, Wall-E felt himself rising higher and higher off the ground.

EVE flew high up in the sky with Wall-E in tow. They hadn't done this in a long time and she knew that Wall-E will enjoy experiencing this freedom once again. She was right for at that moment, Wall-E was able to forget his troubles. As EVE did her magnificent loops, the feel of the wind on both their bodies and the sensation they got from flying gave them another form of expressing their 'love' and their 'commitment'.

For Wall-E, 'life'.

For EVE, 'freedom in flying'.

When they were higher than the clouds, EVE turned on her back, clutching Wall-E like a stuffed bear. Both of them were staring straight up at the stars, marveling at their beauty.

"Star: Any of the heavenly bodies, except the moon, appearing as fixed luminous points in the sky at night." Relayed EVE's internal computer.

Both of them held each other's hands and they really understood what- or rather, who a 'Star' really is.

As they continued their flight, Wall-E felt and heard an uncomfortable pop within him. He instantly knew that due to the stress from flying, his already damaged compactor hydraulics had become worse.

It was back to reality for him.

He looked up to see if EVE noticed the pop. To his relief, her eyes were closed, savoring every moment of their flight. Probably the strong whistle of the wind that they were cutting through distracted her.

Reality. Another new word for Wall-E. But thinking about it, he knew that reality was familiar. Because right now, reality for him is...

"F-fa-kah."

Apparently, EVE heard him this time. "Hmm?" she asked in that adorable robotic tone.

He tried to cover it up with a word that sounds the same as fake. Or for him, "fakah":

"E-ee-vah!"

Then he immediately added, "Uuuhh... L-aat-ah. Lllate. Zo-ne f-four."

"Oh!" EVE realized that they really had to head back. "Sorry."

When they arrived home, Wall-E gave EVE's hand a gentle squeeze and without a word, turned into cube form and backed up into his spot.

EVE was slightly troubled by his sudden change of attitude. During the flight back home, he wasn't as comfortable as he was when they started the flight. She figured that Wall-E's energy level was just low.

"Thank- You..." Wall-E spoke from his spot.

EVE smiled and rocked her companion for a while before shutting down for the night. Tomorrow will be hectic for him since he will be working out the trash in Zone four in the red zone. And that zone was pretty far from their home.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, EVE woke up to an empty home as Wall-E was not around. She hovered out of the truck and checked the roof. Normally, she would find him there, recharging his power. Today wasn't normal.

She figured that he left early today so he could get more work done. This wasn't the first time it happened so it did not worry EVE. Last night's flight must have invigorated him a lot more than what a full recharge would give.

EVE surveyed the surroundings around her. A hundred and fifty years had already passed and a lot of things happened since then. Good things. Around them, the area was no longer a wasteland. Surrounding their home, are grass. Trash has all but disappeared and the old abandoned buildings had considerably lessened with grass growing around those that still remained. Soon, these buildings will be torn down and the material will be used for supplies just like the other buildings before them.

From where the Axiom landed- five miles away from their home- humans have set up a large community of houses and businesses. It was a small, clean, and developing suburbia that they named "Hope".

With the Axiom in the center, a large circle about five miles in radius was created. This circle was called the "Inner circle" of Hope. In here, everything was completely clean and beautiful. This was a residential area.

Five miles onward, until twenty miles was called the "Outer circle" of Hope. In the outer circle, this was where the robots stayed. It wasn't as beautiful as the inner circle, but it was clean and was still in the process of development. Wall-E and EVE's home was located near the border between the inner circle and the outer circle. They were on the outer circle.

It was also here on the outer circle that the businesses were set up as well as where farming and industry took place. It was already hospitable enough that some people had already started living there. Everyone worked with the goal of turning the outer circle as nice as the inner circle.

Outside the outer circle, sensor posts have been set up to serve both as a means to warn the inhabitants of Hope for incoming sandstorms and as guides. Once the outer circle had been turned into a part of the inner circle, the sensor posts will serve as guides to determine until where the new outer circle will be established.

Beyond that was the red zone. This was where Wall-E and the Axiom's Wall-A's currently worked. They cleaned up the trash around the area to prepare for the new outer circle that will be established. Sometimes a team of humans, among them surveyors of the land, would be over to supervise. Engineers remained non-existent since robots took care of all the necessary calculations. A hundred fifty years is not enough to produce engineers that are knowledgeable enough with the way things worked in the world.

The surveyors would scout the land and determine good places to set up structures and facilities, then the robots will analyze the area and determine if the land would be good or not. They have the final say.

Among the human team is Captain Gregory, the new leader of the inhabitants. Ever since Captain McCrea passed away (out of old age), Captain Gregory took his place. He was a good captain and everyone liked him. He continued what the late Captain McCrea started with more, if not equal, determination but most especially, the captain cared about robots as much as he did to his own race.

Times were still rough despite everything that the recolonizers had done since they first came here. Everyone needed a leader like him who was equally tough and understanding.

Before a new outer circle could be established, new sandstorm barriers had to be set up. The old ones had to be taken down to be relocated further away. A second batch of sensor posts also needed to be set-up alongside the sandstorm barriers, and sandstorm shelters had to be established on the new outer circle for those humans and robots who would be unable to escape the sandstorms in time.

The first time humans experienced the sandstorm, three were killed. One of them choked to death and the remaining two, blinded by the dust, fell off a broken overpass. Only one robot was lost because it was not built to withstand the dust that entered its system. Wall-E had given them prior warning but the humans at the time did not fully comprehend the power of a sandstorm.

Ever since the incident, Wall-E was looked up to due to his centuries of experience in the harsh planet. They used trams, similar to the ones seen on the Axiom, as both warning devices and as quick transports for the workers to escape the storm. Unfortunately, the idea failed as well. Next time the sandstorm hit, two trams collided into each other, killing four humans and destroying three robots. Those who survived were trapped and buried under the sand. Two more humans and two more robots were lost from that.

One tram broke down and was also buried under the sand. Fortunately, the cabin of the tram did not break so everyone and everything in it survived after they were dug up by rescue bots. Their survival reflected on the wisdom of Wall-E's experience. Now, sand shelters were built on the worksites and there were no casualties afterwards.

EVE could have never been prouder for her beloved.

Pride. Now that was a nice word to add in her vocabulary.

For EVE, a hundred and fifty years seemed long enough to rehabilitate the planet. Besides, from what she learned, the Earth was devastated in less than a century. It should be logically feasible that it can be rehabilitated in the same span of time. Her logic however, did not make sense to her: The first forty years were devoted mostly to cleaning up the air and the satellite clutter above Earth to make the air breathable for humans. Then the next thirty four years were spent to clean up pollution and waste on the surrounding area to pave the way for the creation of the inner circle. The next seventy six years brought them to where they are right now. The planet wasn't fully rehabilitated but at least everyone had a place to live.

Things were still rough in Earth but everything was fine.

After her survey, EVE left for work. Today she was going to work on an irrigation system for the crops. On her way to the worksite, she calculated that she would be finished digging the water out from underground today. Tomorrow, she would work on the system that would distribute water to the crops. The work wouldn't be so bad, especially since both robots and humans would be helping each other out.

Plus, Captain Gregory was rumored to be stopping by to visit. She hasn't seen the captain in a week and it would be good to see how he's been doing since then.

* * *

That day, the rumors were true. As EVE flew out of her recently dug hole, she came face to face with Captain Gregory.

Well, not really. The Captain had his back on her, as he was busy talking to the irrigation site's team leader.

"Captain" EVE made her presence known and snapped a salute.

Captain Gregory jumped a little at EVE's sudden appearance. He turned and faced the white probe, a smile crossing his face, "Oh, it's you EVE! Haven't seen you in a week! How have you been?" he then proceeded to brush some of the dirt that accumulated on the bowl like structure that housed EVE's head.

"Good. You?"

"Well you know, the usual... I see you're working with Hans today."

EVE nodded, a smile on her blue eyes.

"Yeah, she's been such a big help to us. At this rate, we'd be done by tomorrow night." The tall, dark-skinned team leader spoke.

"Is that so?" the captain said, "Well, this is EVE we're talking about! There won't be any problems as long as she's around." He motioned for the team leader to come over, "Come, walk with me; talk with me". He then waved his hand at EVE, "You take care of yourself EVE" before he started to walk away.

As EVE turned around to continue her work, she heard the captain call out to her, "Hey EVE, you don't happen to have seen Wall-E around, have you?"

The robot looked back at the captain and shook her head asking, "Zone four?"

Captain Gregory looked thoughtful for a moment, "Huh? Did I say Zone four? I remember telling him to work on Zone six." The captain waved his hand as a sign of dismissal, "Never mind. I must have forgotten. Too much to do. Lots of things on my mind." then he and Hans walked away.

EVE was suddenly confused at the situation. The captain has not made any errors yet when it came to little things such as assigning work for people and robots. But then again, so did Wall-E. Just in case, EVE decided to take a little break and go check up on the little trash compactor.

EVE flew towards Zone four and after a quick survey of her surroundings, she found the area empty, except for the piles of trash littered around. Now she grew suspicious.

Then she spotted movement from the corner of her eyes. Out of a pile of trash came Wall-E, carrying a compacted cube. She breathed a sigh of relief and tried to get his attention, "Wall-E!"

The yellow trash compactor stopped, placed the cube on the ground and waved, "Ee-vah!"

His beloved hovered over towards him, "Wall-E. Captain. Zone six."

"Eeehh? Zo-ne foouur?"

EVE shook her head, "Zone six."

"Oh." Wall-E dropped his binocular eyes in defeat.

EVE simply giggled and patted his head. Then she offered her hand out to him, "Ride home?"

The yellow robot looked back and forth from her hand to his hand, then back to her hand, then his hand again. Then, instead of taking her hand, he picked up the cube that he lay on the ground and gave her a smile, "Wooorrk. Mooore... Wooorrk."

The white robot nodded her head in understanding and retracted her arm. With a smile, she and Wall-E shared a spark kiss before she left.

Well, the captain was human after all. He also makes mistakes. EVE settled on that thought as she flew back to her irrigation project.

Truth is, Captain Gregory did not make a mistake.

* * *

**A/N**

**Figured I'd give a little backstory here of what's been going on. For the entire story, I would like to apologize to M-O and the other rogue robots fans out there as they will not be included at all in the story. That does not mean that I dislke them- I just figured that they would just waste some space as they have no role to play. The story is mostly centered on Wall-E and EVE.**

**Besides, I find it difficult to capture M-O's personality. And I couldn't figure out how they could be of help to the two. I hope you all understand.**

**One thing's for sure though, in the story, M-O and the other rogue robots are still alive, helping out somewhere else. I forgot to mention that.**


	4. Chapter 4

Wall-E waited before EVE was out of sight. Once he felt he was clear, he once again left Zone four.

He had actually been in the junkyard all day, where all the other non functional wall-e's were dumped. For the entire day he had been searching and salvaging old parts that could still be used even if only for a couple weeks. Though they were nearly useless, at least they would be worth something.

That day, as he searched for parts, he overheard a group of humans talking about Captain Gregory's tour of the irrigation project that EVE was working on. Wall-E knew that the captain was aware of his absence on Zone six. If he ever came in contact with EVE, the captain would look for him through her. And, knowing EVE, she would come over to look for him.

That only gave him little time to rush back to Zone four, compact a few cubes of trash and pile them up to make her believe that he had been working. With damaged hydraulics in his trash compacting system, it didn't make things any better. Still, he had to 'fake'.

Without any more dilli-dallying, Wall-E rushed through the piles of junk on his way to Zone four. In his hurry, he lost his balance and crashed, damaging his right arm. He could still move it, but it was slightly more unresponsive as it had been. It was just a minor problem and he did not think about it too much as he continued his travel.

EVE however, knowing Wall-E's hand by heart, will be able to tell that something's off with it. Now that will be the major problem. Wall-E had told reminded himself countless times that she must not know.

Wall-E arrived just in time and was lucky enough to compact and stack a few cubes. They weren't all that perfect, but they will do.

Just then, EVE arrived.

Faking wasn't all too bad, as EVE seemed to be happy...

* * *

That night, Wall-E came home late. EVE was already in sleep mode when he arrived so he was relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with her. He had managed to fix his arm albeit only for a temporary amount of time. He was lucky enough to find at least some scrap from another broken wall-e robot.

The part looked worse than what Wall-E currently had but with a few remedies, he managed to restore it to a mediocre working order.

Despite its look, the arm worked better than his old one. He knew the arm will not last long; a month tops, he calculated. From his mini-compactor, Wall-E pulled out his original arm and dumped it in their home's secret compartment.

That arm was his top priority. It was what mattered to both EVE and himself. The very next day, he will go back to the junkyard and scavenge some parts to fix it because in his rush earlier today, he was unable to collect the necessary parts.

Wall-E rolled over to the still form of EVE. She was better off, Wall-E thought, as she could sleep worry-free. Longingly, he lifted his hands and gently placed them on his beloved's retracted fins- down where the hands rested. Slowly and gently, he inched closer to her smooth, egg-like frame until his arms were capable of enveloping her in an embrace.

Wall-E shuddered. He wasn't sure if it was due to him tearlessly crying or from him expressing his fear. Either way, Wall-E held EVE as long as he possibly could. Even if his energy indicator started beeping its 'low energy' warning, he held her. He experienced 'love', and along with 'love', for the first time in more than one hundred fifty years, he also experienced 'pain'.

This time, Wall-E wasn't faking it. It really did hurt.

And EVE continued sleeping unaware all throughout.

* * *

The next morning, EVE awoke to find Wall-E on his way out of their home, lunchbox in tow. "Wall-E."

Wall-E turned around, eyes beaming with joy, "Eevah!" then he rolled back towards her.

EVE's eyes began beaming too, "Work early?"

The yellow robot nodded, "Woork eeeaarrly."

"Home early?"

There was silence. Wall-E's eyes slightly fell. "Overtime."

Now it wass EVE's eyes that fell, "Oh".

But her beloved's binocular eyes lifted back up and chuckled, "Zone siiix. Catch-up."

"Oh" then EVE started to giggle, remembering the previous day when Wall-E forgot which zone he was supposed to work on. Then, a phrase that humans used to say when they were experiencing memory problems clicked in her mind: something along the lines of, "must be getting old" or something like that.

Then again, Wall-E was old. He was beyond old;

He was ancient.

EVE giggled and stretched out her hand to him, "Wall-E".

He knew what that meant.

Once again, Wall-E's eyes fell. Reluctantly, he lifted his own hand to intertwine his fingers with hers. He tried as much as possible to hold hers as perfectly as he did countless times before, but one important fact remained: That was not his original hand.

EVE's eyes turned from smiling to slightly smiling. This scared Wall-E and as much as he wanted to turn into a cube, he didn't want to look too suspicious. EVE simply asked him, "New arm?"

Wall-E simply nodded.

"Old, broken?"

Again, silence. After a while, the clanking noise caused by his head nodding broke through it.

Much to his dismay, the white probe turned around, her hand still clasping Wall-E's hand, as she dragged him to the rollers. The arm he picked wasn't a good one. It was also broken so she had to get him another one.

"Nonononono.. Eevaah!" and Wall-E pulled his hand away.

"Wall-E!" EVE retorted.

"Eevah! Look!" and Wall-E moved the arm every which way, then he moved the hand, then he did a combination of the arm and hand movements. He showed EVE the dexterity of the new arm, all while masking the fact that it was difficult to move it. Then he ended his show with a phrase that spoke of positive consequences, "Ta-da!"

EVE sighed, still unconvinced. But, she trusted him. She held his hand once again and gave him a spark kiss to tell him that.

Once again, Wall-E felt that 'pain' in him.

The rules of life said that there has to be 'love' that came alongside 'pain' so he gripped her hand tighter. Then Wall-E beamed another smile at her before releasing her hand and heading off to work.

Fake.

EVE watched as Wall-E rolled away. She held her hand, remembering the feel of it being gripped tightly. Wall-E was troubled, that she knew, from the way he had been acting. And she too, was troubled because he was troubled.

Little by little, EVE also learned. Now she knew that the word 'fake' existed.

* * *

Wall-E stood still on the top most pile of junk in the wall-e graveyard, watching his surroundings. He did manage to find a couple of things that would help with his repair: a rusty metal rod with holes, some loose bolts he picked off his dead brethren's bodies, and two shovel hands.

Overtime. That was a new word Wall-E learned from humans. Usually, when a human was unable to finish his job, or if he was hardworking enough, he'd resort to overtime. He did consider using that word as the situation he put himself in the day before could qualify as a valid reason for invoking overtime.

Right now EVE believed that Wall-E worked on Zone four all day yesterday and he barely touched Zone six. With overtime, she could be led to believe that he was working extra hours to catch up to the work done on Zone six. He knew however, that the reason why he was working overtime and why he'll always be working overtime was because of EVE. There are things- work that he has not finished yet- things like the meaning of 'pain'.

He wanted to end EVE experiencing pain and he will work for that because he loved her. The humans' during his time of creation had directives just like robots. They worked because they had to survive. Survival was their directive and work was the means for them to accomplish it.

EVE was his directive- no, commitment, and if 'overtime' was a means to accomplish it, as well as 'fake', then both are essential. Both would be his commitment as well.

Wall-E watched the other robots around him. All of them were newer models: better, nicer and brighter than him. He may be better than them in terms of personality, but it was an undeniable fact that he was already an ancient relic. His time and purpose was nearly passing.

He felt like one of those ancient humans' automobiles that were too old to be of use yet the human owners tried as much as they could to preserve, because they could not afford a newer one. Then, if by some stroke of luck, a newer automobile was bestowed upon them, they would sell the old one to the junkyard- an automobile graveyard, where it would be left, forgotten and dead until the time it would suddenly be remembered, only to be crushed into scrap metal.

His technology and his program, as well as his parts, were obsolete. Whichever of these components that currently existed were geared towards the newer and better models- those that would last and be more beneficial than a simple garbage compactor with broken hydraulics; Models that would be loved by everyone.

Models like EVE.

EVE... Until when will he continue to 'fake'? Until when will 'overtime' be relevant to him? Before, his unnoticeable parts were breaking down. Now, his more noticeable parts are entering the picture. His compactor, his arm... EVE will find out. It's just a matter of when and how. And then she will experience 'pain'.

He will fail his commitment.

Wall-E's demeanor turned forlorn as he came to terms with the fact that he will no longer last. The ancient humans were right when they said that nothing lasts. Just like his old friend and companion Hal, his power source will soon stop functioning and his processor will die, but at least he took comfort in the fact that for one hundred and fifty years, he had lived.

The thought of staying in the graveyard along with his brethren, waiting, forgotten and dead, crossed his mind. Maybe if he did not see EVE and her 'pain', then he would be, in some way, fulfilling his commitment, right?

Hopefully someone would suddenly remember that he existed- that his brethren had, in some point in time, existed. Then they would come over and turn them all into scrap metal- metal that would be forged into newer and better parts.

Parts that were geared towards the newer models.

Models like EVE.

Would she ever know that the part that fixed her was him, or a vestige of him? Would she know that her new power cell- her heart, was actually him? Would she know that the wiring- the circuitry that flowed through her body, and kept her alive, was once the same circuitry that kept him alive for eight centuries?

Would she know that her smooth, slender, beautiful, pure white fingers were once his rugged, rusty, ugly, damaged dark fingers?

Maybe it was better that way. Maybe it was better if he lay forgotten and dead, like his brothers in this forsaken place. Maybe it was better to wait for someone who would remember that he had once existed.

Yet did not know that he also had once lived.

Then again, if he was turned into scrap metal and hopefully used as EVE's spare parts, then it would be better. EVE made him live and now, as her spare part, he would continue making her live. In this way, he would fulfill his commitment. He will be able to continue on telling her how much he loved her just by functioning perfectly as her spare part.

And hold her hand for eternity.

He may be old and obsolete, but at least he would be turned into something new. Wall-E slumped next to a mound of his dead brothers and leaned against it, resting all his systems and appendages. He looked up at the stars longingly before closing his eyes as the mound of dead wall-e's welcomed him as one of their own.

That night, Wall-E did not come home.


	5. Chapter 5

The next couple of days, EVE did not see Wall-E as frequently as she used to. Sometimes she would see him in the morning when she woke up, but everytime she did, he was always in a hurry to leave for work.

At night she never saw him at all until she slept. It didn't help that Wall-E barely communicated with her. She missed holding his hand, she missed watching "Hello, Dolly!" with him, she missed flying with him.

She really missed him.

Miss... Another word she recently learned. The lower levels of 'pain' that EVE experienced taught her all about it. At least now, she could put a name to the precedent of 'pain'. Now she could be ready. Whenever she felt that she 'misses' Wall-E, she could be sure that 'pain' would be just around the corner.

Nothing changed as the weeks passed.

Then the months came. Things became worse. Wall-E disappeared even during the mornings. This time when EVE woke up, he was already gone. She wouldn't know where he would be and whenever she asked others of his whereabouts, they too didn't know.

Sometimes she'd wonder if he even came home anymore. However, seeing some of the treasures tampered with told her otherwise.

On some nights she'd stay up as long as she possibly could just to see him, but her power can only go so far before she absolutely must sleep and recharge. She would even completely drain out her main power and use up some of her back-up power to stay awake as long as possible. Still, she wouldn't see Wall-E.

If by some stroke of luck, she manages to catch him, she would inquire.

Then all he'd say to her was,

"Overtime."

That was all that he ever said.

"Overtime."

Sure, Wall-E would hold her hand, embrace her, and kiss her too, as well as give her a fake smile.

Fake. EVE had an inkling of what this word meant. Soon, she will understand.

"Overtime."

"Wall-E!" EVE tried to catch up to him. The brightness of the afternoon sun had successfully camouflaged Wall-E among the dust-filled surroundings- his dusty yellow color was as prominent as the dusty ground. If not for the red and white Igloo lunchbox that bounced on his back, EVE would not have spotted him.

Her beloved companion turned around and stretched out his hand towards her. EVE grabbed his hand with both of hers. Holding his hand has turned into a commodity for her, so whenever the opportunity arises, she would take it no matter what... And clutch it as long as she could for dear life.

She noticed his arm was still broken.

"Wall-E" she whispered sadly. Eventually, even holding hands no longer wiped away her worries; it made them even worse, but she didn't mind the worries so much anymore. She loved him and despite the repercussions to her, she'd continue to hold his hand.

EVE's eyes spoke of so much grief. The yellow robot avoided them, "Overtime."

"Wall-E" more forceful this time.

"Overtime.. For.. Ee-vah." then he let go and continued on his way.

EVE was a fighter. She was tough. But she knew when it was the right time to really confront him. Right now she felt that it wasn't the right time to go after him and pester him about his problem- whatever his problem was. For this time being, EVE let him go.

Worry. This word, EVE had learned a century and a half ago. This word shared the same function as 'miss'. It too, was a precedent of 'pain'. When EVE worries, she knew 'pain' wasn't that far behind.

EVE was frustrated. What was up with all these 'overtimes'?

Why was 'Overtime' such a great importance to Wall-E?

What was troubling Wall-E so much that he was being 'fake'?

Whatever it was, she was terribly 'worried' for him.

She also 'missed' him terribly.

For Wall-E, holding hands with her melted his heart. Now, the act tore it apart.

Yet both of them continued to do it for one important reason- a reason in which their lives were based on: commitment.

* * *

A few more days had passed since EVE last saw Wall-E. He never watched "Hello, Dolly" anymore and his trinkets were no longer touched.

As EVE sat alone, watching the movie, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable of the empty space beside her. She lifted a fin, and imagining that there was a yellow cube beside her, she pretended that she was holding him like she always did when they watched together. When the two humans in the movie held each other's hands, it tore EVE apart. She had enough.

One day, EVE took the day off. She spent most of the entire day charging up her power because that night, she was going to get to the bottom of this.

She went into her egg form, pretending to be asleep and patiently waiting for the yellow trash compactor to come by. Lucky for her, he did come, but at a very late hour- an hour when she would usually be deep in her sleep. Wall-E entered their home and went immediately towards the rollers housing all his treasures. She watched as he spun the rollers as quietly as he could so as not to wake her up.

EVE inwardly gasped as the rollers revealed his spare parts. Normally the shelves would be nearly full; now it was close to empty. She continued to watch as he picked out a wheel from the shelf- the last one. And it was very rusty too. When Wall-E rolled towards her, she shut her eyes down and activated her security camera.

Wall-E placed his hands on hers. Since she had them tucked in, he was unable to hold them so he was content with just touching them. He was unaware that EVE was actually awake, silently watching him.

Though she knew that it hurt both of them, that simple act reminded her that he never forgot. Then, he let go and rolled off towards the night. EVE activated her body and followed him. That was when she noticed that Wall-E was rolling quite unnaturally. He moved slower and he rode kind of bumpily. She followed him towards the edge of the outer circle, towards a sort of junkyard.

She did not leave him out of her sight as he travelled through the mounds of junk. As she watched him traverse the uneven ground with much difficulty, she realized that Wall-E's wheel was broken.

EVE jumped as she came face to face with a decommissioned wall-e. She turned around and saw another wall-e looking straight at her, its arm broken and limp. As she looked around, she saw another wall-e with a broken compactor. Then she gasped when she realized that she was in the middle of a graveyard of her beloved's brethren. Determined not to leave her Wall-E out of her sight, EVE continued following him. She watched as he roamed around the graveyard, salvaging parts off of some of the other wall-e's then throwing them away.

After a while, with what very little parts he found, Wall-E detached his wheels. He repaired the wheel that he took from their home and tried it on.

It did not work.

Wall-E threw it away.

He took another one that he just salvaged and repaired it.

It too, did not work.

It too, was thrown away.

Then he tried the third one, which met the same fate. Lastly, the fourth and final one.

It also met the same fate.

Dejected, Wall-E gathered all four wheels again and tried them out one more time, looking for the one that would be the closest to being in good working condition.

After the wheel problem was settled on, Wall-E took one of the decommissioned wall-es' binocular eyes and dismantled it. Then he detached his left eye and dismantled it as well. It was hard for Wall-E to work with one eye missing in the middle of the night with little to no lighting, but he did so anyway and worked with the eye.

After he was done, Wall-E installed the eye that he had fixed and tried it.

Then, he punched one of the broken wall-e robots in frustration.

EVE was shocked. She had never seen him act that way before. Then again, she had never seen him act the way he had been acting for the past months before.

She watched as smoke began to come out of the arm. Wall-E noticed it too and moaned.

EVE had seen enough. She turned around to leave the graveyard, only to come face to face with another dead wall-e, its eyes hung broken from its lifeless head. She shook her head in disbelief and flew back to their home.

Her beloved had a broken wheel, a broken arm, then now he was blind in one eye! Who knew what other problems he had!

She went to the rollers and spun it to reveal all of Wall-E's spare part shelves. They were empty except for small junk here and there- Useless junk that seemed to be malfunctioning as well.

In her hurry in checking all the shelves, she knocked off one of Wall-E's metal lighters. The trinket fell on the floor with a loud and hollow 'clank!'

Wait a minute, EVE stopped. Hollow?

She studied the floor and yes, one of the metal floor boards seemed to be out of place. EVE lifted the floor board and gasped.

Inside were a lot of Wall-E's original, broken parts.

Here she was, asking herself what other things were wrong with Wall-E.

Now she got her answer.

EVE looked back at the empty spare part shelves and the images of what she had witnessed in the graveyard began to replay itself on her onboard camera.

Then EVE understood what was wrong- what he had been doing.

She looked back at the secret compartment, towards the pile of broken parts. At the bottom of the pile, she saw one of Wall-E's broken solar panels and suddenly remembered that day months ago.

Then she remembered that one word she heard Wall-E use before. What was that word again? She tried to recall.

"Fake."

* * *

The next morning, Wall-E woke up and gasped. His shelves had been moved, revealing the lack of spare parts and the flooring that once covered his secret compartment was gone, revealing all the broken parts he had been been repairing every night.

He remembered that they weren't that way the night before. And he was the only one who knew of this secret compartment. Unless someone else...

And as he turned to go outside, that 'someone else' blocked his path, eyes intensely looking at him, her white frame shining brightly in the sunlight.

All he could do was curl up in box form, in fear of what would be coming next. Then, little by little, he realized that he did something wrong.

He thought that in order to avoid 'pain', he could 'fake'. Now he learned that 'fake' also brought about 'pain'.


	6. Chapter 6

At least EVE was kind enough to let Wall-E have his much needed solar recharge. He noticed EVE's face slightly changed when his charge meter didn't go all the way to the top. This time, there wasn't any inquiry from her for she already knew why.

Wall-E sighed and took a deep breath. He hoped that more of his panels broke so that he could just spend the entire day out there and not confront her.

Once they were back inside their home, the tension in the air was thick. In fact, it was so thick that neither of them could come close to each other nor face each other even. Wall-E was at the far back corner of the truck, trembling a little. He had his back towards EVE, not daring to face her. Turning around felt like a death sentence.

If he was about to be executed, he'd rather not see it coming. He waited for her to say something... Anything.

EVE hovered at the doorway, just watching him, waiting for him to talk, to 'fake'.

After what seemed like ages, EVE shut the door.

They were going to have a day off today.

Another eternity seemed to pass between the two before EVE began to hover towards the empty spare part shelves. EVE knew that Wall-E sensed her approach as he folded himself into a cube. She began to examine the empty shelves, brushing her hand in the crevasses that once housed Wall-E's parts.

There was no use getting angry at him. With Wall-E, she learned that her laser cannon was not always the best solution. In this particular moment, her commitment told her that resorting to anger will not help at all.

Yes, Wall-E had hurt her. Yes, it was logical for her programming to blast him into pieces.

However, she understood.

"Wall-E" she said as gently as she could.

He did not respond. Wall-E knew that he hurt EVE. He had failed in his commitment. If he talked or did anything, it might make things even worse.

EVE knew what Wall-E was feeling right now. He had locked himself in his shell, heartbroken for hurting her. She had to show him that she was okay, to show him that she understood. Any violent action, any form that would register her as hostile towards his systems would further close him up. This Wall-E in front of her was not the exact same Wall-E she had met a century and a half ago. He had changed- a lot.

That meant that she had to change too, just to keep up with him. She felt it to be uncomfortable but she had to.

So, she had to 'fake'. Again, pondering on this word, she understood why Wall-E learned it so well. She understood him and now, she was about to use whatever he learned on him. In order to do that, she had to throw away her original plan of going up to him and directly asking him. Instead, she processed every possibility, every reason behind Wall-E's actions and planned to start from there.

Then she realized that 'fake' wasn't really too bad after all. In fact, it seemed easy for her to do since, as she thought about it further, after realizing what Wall-E had done for her- the reason why he hurt her, the reason why he used 'fake', she didn't have to 'fake' as much anymore. She kept it real and it proved to be way easier.

She lifted her hand and gently placed it on top of Wall-E's retracted head, "Wall-E" she spoke tenderly.

Wall-E did not say a word ever since he first saw EVE that morning. He was grateful though, that EVE wasn't intent on obliterating him and he showed that appreciation by slowly detracting his head, arms, and wheels. Feeling no form of hostility from EVE, he slowly turned around to face her. Much to his surprise, her eyes were contorted in concern more than in pain.

And strangely, this 'pained' Wall-E. He was expecting her to show him all the hurt, all the pain he had caused her, but she didn't. Yes, it would 'pain' him if she showed all that hurt, but now it's paining him more when she was showing him concern. It unsettled him. He suddenly found it difficult to keep his gaze to her, as if her expression had an invisible force of its own, trying to push him away.

It's funny, how 'pain' works... So unpredictable and weird.

But then again, so is 'love'.

Maybe EVE was 'faking' it, but a gentle hand squeeze from EVE told him otherwise.

"Wall-E", EVE said once again.

Once again, she waited for a reply.

He didn't. Maybe he was too afraid...

EVE sighed, expressing her sadness, which consequently moved Wall-E. She watched as he looked away,

And emit the most horrible sound she had ever heard, "Ssso-ree"

EVE gasped. The sound was not his. That was not his regular, high-pitched voice; this voice was lower and was infested with static. This troubled her but she did not want to show him her discomfort. This new defect was difficult for both EVE's hearing and her heart to comprehend, but she took comfort in the fact that at least she could understand.

Wall-E's eyes closed in sadness when he heard her gasp. That was what he was afraid of. Now, he was losing his communication box and through EVE's hand that was still intertwined with his, he could feel that she was deeply unsettled by this new gap in fixing him and their relationship.

"Eevah?" with that, she let go of his hand and turned away.

"Parts?" was all she said. If that was the only problem, then it wasn't really that big of a problem. They could have some made for him in the Axiom, it's as simple as that.

However, it was the way that Wall-E's been acting that told her that parts were not the only problem. She turned back to face him.

Wall-E shook his head, "Mmmooore. M-more." He then reached out for EVE's hand. Taking it, he slowly began, "Eevah.. Looove.. Paaain.. Faa-kaah.. Overtime.. Co-meet-ment.."

"Wall-E..", EVE began, then slowly and gently, she brushed her hands on her partner. She started with Wall-E's broken wheel, ".. worry.." then up to his broken arm, ".. miss.." to the speaker on his head, ".. pain.." to his broken left eye, ".. fake.."

Then she laid her hand to rest on Wall-E's energy meter, ".. love.."

Wall-E still shook his head, "Eevah." He then proceded to detach his left eye- the one that was broken, the one he had tried to fix in the graveyard the night before, "More" and he gave the eye to her.

EVE gingerly took the eye with her fins and scanned it. Then she nearly dropped it in shock...

The eye was perfectly working. But why couldn't Wall-E see... EVE returned her gaze at him. Wall-E nodded sadly at her. It wasn't just his mechanical parts that were breaking down... The most important ones...

Then her beloved began to speak, "Wall-E... D-daa-daa-yee-"

"No!" she cut him off. It may be nice that they were learning new words, but that was one word that he will not learn nor will she learn herself. It was a small, five letter word that dealt too much pain. "No!" she may understand and continue to understand Wall-E, but that word, she will never understand.

Humans have a better way of expressing or rephrasing that word which EVE had somewhat accepted: It was, as humans said it, when somebody 'forgets to breathe'. EVE would never understand, learn, comprehend that word- that term. That... Thing. Because she knew that Wall-E will never 'forget'. She was Wall-E's breath- she was his life. She made him live. Even if she almost lost him three times before, Wall-E never 'forgot'.

"Eevah?"

EVE did not say a word. She turned and reached down the secret compartment, and retrieved Wall-E's broken, but original arm. She hovered towards him and presented him the arm, ".. commitment.."

Wall-E stared at the arm, slowly comprehending what EVE was telling him. He did not have to hide it and go about his problem alone. He may have been alone for seven centuries, but now that was not the case. Now EVE was in the picture and they were in it together. And the manner EVE confronted him just now, how she did not express any form of anger told him that no matter what happened, he was not alone. She was a part of him and he, a part of her. Never again would they be alone.

Technically, the memories that span seven hundred years were a lot more than the memories that span only a hundred and fifty years. Because of that technicality, Wall-E had returned to his seven hundred year memories. However, EVE reminded him that his one hundred and fifty year memories were what mattered at this day and age.

It was what was new and better; not what was old and outdated.

It wasn't technicality; it was relativity- A human term.

Finally, Wall-E broke his shell and slowly took his old arm. Together, the two detached the arm he's been using and installed his original one. Then, EVE held her hand out for Wall-E to hold, which he did. The arm was still broken but now, he was no longer afraid to hide it. They will fix the problem together.

"Commitment" he replied.

EVE's eyes turned upwards to reflect a genuine smile. Then, with a "whoa!" from her beloved, she picked him up and left their home.

"Eevah?"

And one simple word escaped EVE:

"Overtime."

Now, it was Wall-E's turn to smile. He felt healed.

Heal... Now that was a new word he could get used to. He was beginning to like it.

* * *

EVE landed at the large door entrances to the Axiom. With Wall-E in hand, they moved side by side into the ship. It's been a while since EVE had been back inside the ship and since then, nothing has changed. It wasn't surprising since nearly the entire ship had been relatively untouched.

The world they now know was a much bigger place than this.

EVE was filled with hope. If there was something wrong with any robot around here, the Axiom would always have the answers. The ship held the entire planet's history in its powerful processors, as well as the histories of both the human and robot races. The ship was basically Earth itself, except that it was Earth that was converted into data and stored into a computer- a computer that was now known as the Axiom.

It was originally built with the goal of recolonizing Earth so everything that was needed regarding Earth would be in it. EVE brought Wall-E in the repair ward and hooked him up in the diagnostic machine.

With a few punches on the buttons, the computer should tell her what he needed.

Wall-E, however, knew better. He had been here months ago and knew that it did not work. "Eevah," he began.

But EVE held her fin up for him to stop. Seeing no other opportunity to tell her, Wall-E did as EVE told and let the computer tell her instead.

As he predicted and thanks to prior experience, Wall-E saw the red lighting of the computer screen reflect off EVE's face. He could not see what exactly was written since he could not see the screen but he remembered what was written when that red screen came up.

**UNKNOWN OBJECT**

**NOT IN DATABASE**

There was silence. EVE approached him to reattach the wires and the machines before she went back to the computer screen and repunched the buttons.

Red lighting.

Again she tried.

Red lighting.

"Eevah?"

There was silence.

Wall-E sighed. He looked up at EVE's face when she approached him. He was surprised that she still hasn't lost that glimmer of hope even slightly. That meant that there was something else they can do.

She offered her hand, "Come, Wall-E"

He took her hand, "Wwwwhere?"

"Bridge."

Then something clicked in his mind... Of course! Last time he was here, he only visited the diagnostic room! He did not even think about visiting the bridge! The reason why he wasn't found in the Axiom's database was because he was in stage two of "Operation: Cleanup".

Stage one was the evacuation of the human population. Stage two was be the activation of the Wall-E program that would clean up the trash on Earth. If the corporation only wanted the autopilots to have access to classified information regarding the failure of "Operation: Cleanup", then they would make the details of the entire operation inaccessible to anyone but the autopilots.

The data will not be deleted because at the time, humanity was very hopeful of their return to Earth. If the data was deleted then there would be an uprising. Instead, the autopilots figured that by pampering to every human's wants and desires and turning them into 'machines', then they would love staying on the ship instead of going back to Earth.

The only place on the ship that every stored data could be accessed would be in the bridge.

Maybe there's still hope.

Hope. That was one word Wall-E had a hard time learning. The only explanation he could get out of 'hope' would be that feeling he got when he first saw EVE that faithful day one hundred and fifty years ago.

Now as he looked at EVE's hand holding his, dragging him to the bridge with a lot of 'hope' in her electronic blue eyes, Wall-E began to learn that hope came side by side with 'love'.

* * *

**A/N**

**Originally, I was thinking about the story ending here. But, it felt that it would leave people wanting to know about what happened next to Wall-E. So, I decided to extend it. In addition, the way the story will be going from here to what I had planned out allowed for more opportunities to develop the characters further, especially EVE who I felt did not experience any significant character development.**

**So, we're done with the first part of the story, which was centered mostly on Wall-E. I would like to apologize to those who were expecting a pure romance/drama fic. I assure you, the fic is still romance/drama, but there will be a mix of different genres on the second part. (It's good to have some variety. Too much of one thing is bad) The problem still persists but this time, our favorite couple will attempt to really solve it. What was fixed right now was Wall-E's attitude towards EVE regarding the problem. Now it would be kinda EVE-centric, so I had to slightly change the tone and the settings of the story.**

**I'm just hoping that my decision won't let the story jump the shark... So, just let the reviews come in and let me know how I'm doing. And a big thank you to those who reviewed and/or read the story thus far.**


	7. Chapter 7

When the two arrived on the bridge, EVE immediately let go of Wall-E and began working on the console. She tried to access the database while taking comfort in te fact that at least they didn't have to deal with AUTO anymore. Both of them were grateful for that.

Once EVE gained access to his file, then everything would be fine. Everything should go back to normal- to be just the way they used to be.

However, as the minutes ticked by, Wall-E could feel EVE getting more and more agitated. She still had that hopeful demeanor in her but as time continued to pass, he could feel that she was beginning to fake that demeanor.

Wall-E watched as EVE pounded on one last button before letting her fins flop lifelessly on her sides. From behind her back Wall-E could see her frustration. "Eevah?" He rolled up behind her and gently held her hand to comfort her.

EVE winced at the horrible tone of Wall-E's voice. She knew he was just trying to cheer her up, but that voice... It didn't help at all...

"Oh! You're both here?"

Now that voice sounded human for both of them. The couple turned around and saw Captain Gregory walking up to them. EVE snapped a lifeless salute and Wall-E greeted the captain with a gurgle- his version of a hello (in which the captain, like EVE, winced).

"Hey Wall-E, how have you been? Haven't seen you around in the past days! It's like you've gone AWOL on me." the captain chuckled, hoping to lift the somewhat gloomy atmosphere.

It didn't work.

"So," he tried again, "What brings you two lovebirds here?" then he took a good look at both of them and stopped, "Don't answer that; I think I know." Captain Gregory walked up to Wall-E and bent down to see him eye to eye and began examining the yellow bot.

"Wall-E, your voice doesn't sound too good. What is the problem? Communication box a little rusty?"

Wall-E stole a glance at EVE, eyes expressing a need for help, as he was unable to fully explain the situation to the human.

The white probe took the captain's attention and began explaining everything to him. All the while, the captain inspected Wall-E, turning him every which way he could, examining all the damages that EVE mentioned- or acted.

Wall-E was getting dizzy and if he could, he would've thrown up. Luckily, he couldn't.

After EVE was done, the captain stood up, "I see." he went to the console and began pushing the buttons. "So EVE, you said you could not access the files regarding stage two of Operation: Cleanup nor anything regarding the operation at all?"

"Deleted" was all EVE said.

"I think I know how to work around this problem..." he let that last word hang in the air as he tapped some buttons on the console, then finished it by accentuating the last button tap, "There!" EVE came over and her eyes widened in surprise.

Captain Gregory began to speak, "You see, the reason was that all the files regarding Operation: Cleanup were moved to a hidden folder in an undisclosed location in the drive. AUTO planned to delete the files in a hurry but he couldn't since the files were not organized. He gathered them all up in one folder and was in the process of deleting that folder until he was interrupted." he gave EVE the console and she began to examine its contents.

"Oh" She was relieved to find that at least some of the files regarding stage two was still intact but unfortunately, most have been deleted.

Again, her face fell when she found the computerized specification of a wall-e unit had been deleted. Basically, the blueprint, the parts, everything related to the manufacture of the wall-e's were gone. "No!"

Both Wall-E and Captain Gregory jumped.

"Not here!" she said again.

The Captain gently shoved EVE aside and began working on the console. "So AUTO managed to delete nearly everything about stage two. The wall-e blueprints, the part specifications... But some of the logs are still here."

Then the captain began to read them out loud, "**April 17, 2107: 1430 hours:** BnL science vessel Quantum reports back from Earth. Earth atmosphere has not changed a bit. Continuing further observation."

The next logs caught Captain Gregory's eye, "**October 3, 2108: 0915 hours:** Recommended deactivation of all wall-e units on Earth in light of directive A113. **October 4, 2108: 0120 hours:** All wall-e units confirmed deactivated." both the captain and EVE looked on in shock, "All wall-e units, deactivated?"

They turned to look at Wall-E who was propped up on a chair, playing with his treads. He returned their stare with confusion.

"Wall-E?" EVE asked. She too, was confused.

"Wall-E, do you remember anything about this?" the captain asked. If all Wall-E units were deactivated, how come their Wall-E continued to exist?

Wall-E tilted his head at them. Apparently he wasn't paying attention.

"The deactivation, Wall-E. It was during the year 2108. Remember anything?" the captain asked again.

The clueless bot replied with the best answer he could think of, "Eevah?" for him, EVE should know more about that stuff than he did. However, EVE's questioning eyes bore straight through him, telling him otherwise.

Wall-E looked at the ground and shook his head, "No." Truth be told, he did not want that subject brought up. The only thing he remembered was when he woke up... It was horrible.

Come to think of it, he had no recollection of what happened before that. He didn't even know things happened before that faithful day. All he knew was that he woke up to a world he did not want to be in.

His onboard computer just briefed him on why he was there, and what he was supposed to do. That time, he trusted the system. He knew that the system would not put him in harm's way, so he learned to cope up with his environment. For seven centuries, his entire being followed a logic that kept him going.

However, this new revelation... What happened before he woke up?

"Never mind that." the captain broke his train of thought, "We could figure that out later. It says here that two years after that date, BnL officially released the A113 statement to the autopilots... Anyway, the priority right now is that we need to get you on tip top shape. Lucky for us, there's still hope. It says here that there were real, written wall-e blueprints that were left here on Earth the same time the wall-e's were deployed. If we can get a hold of the blueprints, we could upload the data easily on the Axiom and manufacture the much needed parts specifically suited for our Wall-E here. Right now, we don't have a lead as to their location, but those blueprints are out there somewhere."

At that, EVE's eyes lit up. In joy, she charged at Captain Gregory in an attempt to give him a hug, "Woohoo!"

Wall-E watched in horror as the captain was ruthlessly bulldozered by EVE. He squealed for her to stop which she did. Apparently, EVE forgot that humans were not made of durable material.

The damage was already done however, as bruises started to form on the captain's face.

"Oh!" EVE covered her mouth with both her hands, or at least the spot where a mouth would normally be, "Sorry!"

The captain chuckled as he slowly got back up on his feet, "It's no problem. Now hurry up before Wall-E starts dropping body parts all around the place!"

EVE went up to Wall-E, held both his hands with hers and gave him a spark kiss. Her eyes had once again, lit with hope that he couldn't help but feel elated at her and share her joy.

Then EVE began to think, "Where?" Earth was a huge planet. Finding those blueprints would take twice the amount of years in which Wall-E had existed.

Wall-E smiled at EVE, "Wall-E.. Knnooow." Without a second word, they were both gone, trailed by the echo of the yellow robot's "Whoa!"

The captain watched them from the bridge window as they left the ship, a light chuckle escaping his lips as he felt the bruises with his fingers.

* * *

Ted.

That was the name given to John and Mary's son, and the legacy that John managed to pass on before he joined Captain McCrae. John was one of the passengers buried alive during the tram accident in the sandstorm- an unfortunate victim of chance. Mary was left with their son and she spent a good deal of her time raising Ted.

EVE was a first hand witness of the pain and recovery Mary underwent after John's loss. One thing that EVE learned from that experience was somewhat that of self-discovery. She learned that she would be unable to handle it herself if Wall-E suffered the same fate. Since then, EVE deleted that dreadful, five letter word from her vocabulary- that word humans say when they "forget to breathe".

Fortunately, as time passed and the acceptance of John's passing sunk in, Mary and Ted recovered, due in no small part to all their friends (humans and robots alike) who helped them out. The mother and son lived a full and happy life that John had wanted for them.

Right now, Mary was very old and bed-ridden. Everyone who knew her and her family were well aware that her time was already coming, so they had already emotionally prepared for that day. Soon, Ted will be the only surviving member of their family and he knew it.

Ted was forty seven years old yet he looked and acted like an ancient human teenager. The life of humans during their seven century existence in space had dramatically altered their aging process. Excessively nutritious sustenance, extreme pampering in order to prevent them from having any 'work-related injuries' and such, and advanced medical bays and systems eliminated all anomalies in their bodies. More or less two centuries would be a good, full life for a normal human being at this day and age.

Also, due to the brain inactivity of the humans in space, their maturity process had slowed down. It would take forty to fifty years before the average human brain reached that point in time relative to when an ancient human's brain would mature in about twenty years.

For forty seven years, Ted was a very young man. He had Mary's red hair and John's eyes. He wasn't that tall, but he was very intelligent and had an interest in ancient Earth artifacts. This common interest had turned Wall-E and Ted into good friends.

Nearly every chance they got, the two of them would exchange treasures. Sometimes, the two would be trapped in their own world that they'd forget that there were others around them. Even EVE wouldn't be spared from Wall-E's lack of attention, but it did not bother her. Despite being out of place, she would try to join in, picking up whatever junk she'd find and present it to them.

Most of the time, the two would turn her finds down. What appealed to her did not appeal to the two boys; Likewise, what appealed to the two did not appeal to her, yet it was majority rule and soon EVE got the hang of finding items that the two liked. She particularly loved the way Wall-E would look at her in gratitude and elicit that satisfying, "Oooh!" when she presented an interesting find to him, making her garbage digging a fruitful activity.

Ted, being a historian, would then tell them stories about the objects they'd find and how they were used a long time ago. Soon enough, EVE began to appreciate the little pieces of junk scattered all around. She began to appreciate Wall-E's treasures as well, surprised to actually 'see' some of the things that she did not pay much attention to before. If they were not watching "Hello, Dolly", the two would huddle close together, studying and admiring the different trinkets in their home, as well as the ones they found early during the day.

Sometimes when she was not in the mood, EVE would just hover around, and like a mother, keep a close watch on the two boys as they frolic in trash dumps, exchanging treasures and stories.

Then one day, Ted found out about a library collection in the Axiom that was full of preserved books and documents taken directly from Earth during the evacuation. Ever since he got a hold of these books, he spent most of his days buried in them and had less time with Wall-E.

Since Ted took all the books, hopefully, there would be a book or at least a sort of written document of "Operation: Cleanup" somewhere there that he should have known about by now. Before plans like the ones used during the operation were inputted in the Axiom's computer, they were conceived as written documents of some sort beforehand.

Hopefully Ted managed to get a hold of these- long forgotten by both humans and robots alike who relied on electronic data instead of books.

Ted was a historian. He was bound to know.

Hand in hand, the couple approached the front door in Ted's home. The two shared a quick glance before Wall-E knocked on the door. Immediately, a computerized voice spoke from the door, "Name?"

The sudden question slightly startled Wall-E and he jumped, "Whoa!"

"Directive?"

This time EVE spoke, "Wall-E"

A few seconds later they heard muffled voices from the other side of the door, "I don't know anyone by the name, 'Whoa!'" human-sounding, very familiar.

EVE giggled.

"But 'Wall-E'... Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time." by now the door had opened and Ted was greeting the two robots with a smile. "Well, well, well, look who decided to drop by! Well come on in, folks!"

The two followed him in. The place was nearly as messy as their own home and various artifacts littered the entire place. Immediately Wall-E broke off from EVE and approached one of the shelves that housed different relics.

"So, how have you been?" Ted asked EVE, as Wall-E was presently distracted with a pop-up book.

"Good. You?"

"Never better... Hey look, guess what I found!" and Ted showed them an old copy of 'The Communist Manifesto' by Karl Marx. "I just started reading it and it was very interesting to know that there were other political systems a long time ago! I thought there was just one! Ya know, my race will soon grow to millions and eventually, we will need to adopt a political system that will suit our needs. Now I know that there are more than one, I need to find out more about the rest and choose which would be the best. What do you think, EVE?"

But the white probe wasn't really paying much attention to him. Political systems and whatnot are of her least concern.

"Bummer, and here I thought I could talk to somebody about this fascinating thing."

EVE flashed him a smile and spoke, "Captain. Interested."

"Yeah you're right, Captain G would be more interested in this matter than many of us do. Thanks EVE. So, what do you guys want to talk about? What brings you here?"

"Wall-E" she said. As soon as the name was mentioned, she felt a strong bump on the back of her head.

She turned around and found Wall-E with his hands clasped together, whistling and avoiding eye contact. "Wall-E!" she snapped.

"Hey! I've been looking all over for this!" EVE then felt a tug (bordering on a yank) at the back of her head followed by an audible pop.

"Thanks Wall-E!" Ted exclaimed as he held up the object. It was one of those suction cup balls. Apparently, as Wall-E played around with it, the ball stuck to the lens on his eye. When he pulled it out, he accidentally let go of the ball and it flew, finding its home on the back of EVE's head.

Ted threw the ball on a window fifteen feet away in which it stuck, "Look! Neat, huh?"

An "Oooh!" was heard from Wall-E.

EVE was irritated. She activated her laser cannon and aimed it at the offending object which gave her a satisfying, "Nononononono!" from the other two.

Ted scrambled over his desk, knocking over some of his books in the process, as he grabbed the ball from the window while Wall-E scrambled for EVE's cannon arm. After that little charade, it was back to business.

The human picked up and arranged the books he knocked over before straightening himself, "Well, as we had just witnessed, Wall-E seems to be fine." Then his eyes narrowed, "Except for that sudden change in his voice... Did he just have an upgrade on his communications box or something? 'cuz if he did, the guy who worked on him didn't do a pretty good job."

EVE sighed and then tried as hard as she could to relay to Ted the entire story.

* * *

**A/N **

**Okay, so here's the 6th chapter. I didn't feel like it was a good chapter as I could find no opportunity to slip in some WallEVE fluff or dramatic interaction. There will be some more chapters like these in the future (as I mentioned, variety).**

**I would also like to say that I might not be able to update as frequently as I used to as school had already started. I have a chemistry class and a calculus class going and each one would eat up half a day. Plus the homeworks would take about the same amount of time to complete. I also have other classes to top it off so, it's going to be a busy semester for me. Rest assured, I'm not going to abandon this story. Thank you to all the supporters.**


	8. Chapter 8

Wall-E and EVE watched as Ted fumbled through his books and messy papers, mumbling "stage two" over and over again. EVE had offered to help but Ted refused, claiming that she might mess up the organization of his things.

"Illogical" EVE sighed in frustration as a bunch of papers and two books flew in her general direction. This was not helping at all.

"I almost got them guys, just.. Just hold on for a minute longer. I know they're here somewhere." EVE watched as Ted pushed aside a stack of books and began fumbling through the mounds of papers and rubber duckies below.

The couple were hopeful that Ted would have a copy of the blueprints with him but alas, they were lost. He did know about their existence but the Axiom did not have a copy of them. He found it odd since the wall-a's design were based on the wall-e's. It was understandable however, as the wall-a's were still completely different from the wall-e's in terms of technicality.

The wall-a's may be Wall-E's cousins, but they weren't Wall-E. As much as EVE would like to manufacture Wall-E's parts based on the wall-a's, it still wouldn't work. They had a completely different blueprint and part specifications.

Wall-E stood beside EVE, tapping his fingers in impatience. Still, his curiosity would get the better of him and he would sneak away to examine whatever object caught his eye. Unfortunately, his broken wheel would make a noise whenever he tried to move, resulting in EVE grabbing his arm and pulling him back beside her.

"Wall-E! Not helping!"

He'd then let out a sigh of defeat and return to tapping his fingers.

Again, EVE offered to help.

"No EVE, it- it's okay! It's just here. I just have to check this part..."

Then EVE heard a faint short-circuiting sound, followed by a sad moan from Wall-E. She turned her attention to him and saw him pounding on the display of his energy meter.

The display was blank.

Fortunately, Wall-E was still okay. He pounded three more times on the display before it flickered back to life.

"Wall-E!" that was it. Like it or not, EVE was going to help Ted. She moved to the nearest pile and began fumbling through the mess.

"EVE! I just told you- Check over in that area! I must have placed them alongside the " 'whatever' for dummies" books!"

There was no point in standing there, Wall-E thought and began searching himself. He wasn't sure what exactly they were looking for but he tried looking along the lines of: wall-e, Operation: Cleanup, and Stage two.

He watched EVE as she began scaning the pile she just fumbled through. Her blue laser scanner shone brightly and contorted perfectly to the surfaces that she was scanning. Wall-E's face fell as he looked towards his display. It did not shine as brightly as before. Unlike EVE's scanner, his display was dim and in danger of dying on him again.

A few more minutes of fruitless searching had passed until finally, "Stage two!". EVE and Ted stopped.

Wall-E held the document in his hands. He had found it!

Maybe he wasn't old and useless anymore!

He could still be of some use in this world and that thought made him happy. He scanned the document with his eyes, turning it around as EVE and Ted approached.

Ted took the document from his hands and began reading it, "Stage two..." he began...

"Heat oven to three hundred degrees and wait for fifteen minutes. Stage three: Put batter in oven... No, that's not it." then he lowered it and looked thoughtful for a moment, "Now I wonder... What is an oven? I better check that out!" he turned around and returned to his fruitless searching.

Again, Wall-E moaned his defeat.

Maybe he was afterall...

Then he felt EVE's hand on his. Wall-E looked up at her face and saw her give him that smile he loved so much as she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Then she turned and continued her searching. She still had hope.

It was already getting dark and still they found nothing. Ted had given up and he was now resting on his chair. EVE however, continued searching. Robots don't tire and get bored as easily as humans do and she was very grateful for that.

Well, maybe Wall-E was an exception as he was now toying with trinkets instead of helping her. She was slightly annoyed at him because of that, but that was what he loved. She didn't want to deprive Wall-E of that.

So, she continued to search by herself.

Night was beginning to fall and still EVE found nothing.

"Oooh!"

For the umpteenth time she heard Wall-E say that when he found something interesting. This time, she took a break and watched him examine a clear, blue plastic envelope. The elastic on the envelope that was attached to the flap and served as a hook to keep the envelope closed was what caught his attention.

Wall-E stretched the material as far as he could then by accident, it slipped from his fingers and snapped back to its original form. The elastic slammed on the envelope's surface, creating an interesting snap that fascinated Wall-E. "Whoa!"

Again he did it, creating that snapping sound. Then he did it again and again.

EVE giggled.

The constant snapping sound woke an already sleeping Ted and in his attempt to find the source of the sound, he saw the envelope on Wall-E's hands. Then his eyes widened, "That's it!" and he pointed at the envelope.

"Huh?" both robots said in unison. The human walked over and took the envelope from Wall-E. He reached inside and retrieved a battered and torn paper envelope with the words, "Classified" written on it. The contents of the paper envelope could be seen though the tears and holes and it seemed that they did not fare any better than the envelope that protected them.

"Yes, this is it... These papers were basically left alone and uncared of." Ted explained, "Ever since details and plans could be inputted more securely on computers as data, written plans were shredded and thrown away. Somehow this one made it out. I wonder why..."

When he pulled the torn and dirty papers from the envelope, a dirty and scratched disc fell out. "That's weird," Ted began, as he picked up the disc and examined it. "I believe this is an ancient data storage device... Holds one hundred exabytes of data... Man, that's reaaally old." Ted went to a drawer and produced a dusty laptop. He opened it to reveal a crack on the screen and missing keys.

"Found this one a week ago inside a fridge on one of the junkpiles. Luckily, there doesn't seem to be any damage to its internal systems. Wonder why anyone would throw it away..." The two robots huddled behind the human as he worked on the machine. When Ted turned it on, an advertisement of that same laptop but a newer model of it greeted their eyes. "Figures."

"Just a few dusty old parts from the trash heap, and it's working again."

EVE sensed Wall-E's discomfort at that and held his hand.

Then Ted tapped the side of the screen when it started to flicker and die on him.

EVE felt Wall-E's grip loosen so she tightened hers.

"I think..." Ted took the disc, "This goes here." and he inserted it on the side of the machine. The laptop slowly sucked the disc in, showing centuries of inactivity by making a loud, grinding sound as it took the disc.

After what seemed like an eternity, a video began to play. In the video, a human's face appeared against a background full of machinery. A gas mask hung over his neck. When the human spoke, he was no longer calm, "Listen, my name is Engineer Steve Matthews. Today is August 26, 2108."

"2-1-0-8?" EVE said.

"Me and my team have been working since 2105 as supervisors in the Clark base for Stage two of Operation: Cleanup. BnL is wrong! Earth could still be saved. The wall-e units are very efficient and productive. They have been doing a great job cleaning up the trash and there is still hope." As he spoke, land crawlers- trucks similar to Wall-E and EVE's home, rolled in and out the huge garage door behind the engineer.

The crawlers that rolled in stopped. Their tops opened up to reveal metallic hook points while huge robotic arms clasped on the hook points. The arms lifted up, revealing the same rollers in Wall-E and EVE's home. On the rollers were full rows of wall-e units, deactivated and in cube form. All of them were dirty and some seemed to be badly damaged. There were spaces on some shelves in between two deactivated wall-e's, signifying those units that did not return.

The robotic arms dropped the roller assembly on a conveyor belt along with other rollers that carried dirty and damaged wall-e units. The conveyor then transported the rollers in a room that had a sign saying, "Check-up and Repair" where they disappeared. Wheel locks on the floor clamped on the land crawlers' gigantic wheels and the behemoths were transported to their own check-up and repair garage.

On the other side of the room, new and clean land crawlers were rolled and parked beside another conveyor belt, their tops opened as well. Another set of huge robotic arms picked up the rollers, which contained full inventories of new and clean wall-e units, from the conveyor belt and put them in the land crawlers. The land crawlers' tops closed, the wheel locks unclamped, the garage door opened to reveal a barren wasteland, and the land crawlers rolled out.

The engineer continued to speak, "The maintenance and replacement of both parts and units for second stage are costing a lot more than BnL's projected estimates so they are planning to shut the whole operation down. Me and my team managed to override their controls from space and switch it to manual down here. Support from the consumers is the only thing keeping the operation alive but we can only keep it going for so long before the corporation will find a way to shut it down. We don't have much time before BnL sends in the 'cleaner bots'. Here... I managed to save the original written draft of Operation: Cleanup from the shredders. Also included in this disc, are backups of all the files regarding Operation: Cleanup. By now, I believe the autopilots were ordered to delete these files onboard the star liners..."

He then tapped some keys in the console and continued, "They are trying to shut us down right now. Hopefully, the files could be transferred before it's too late. I will place all the files and documents in a courier robot with designation DRW500S. Captain, the robot will attempt to find you. If it can't, it will put the files on the Axiom's library. If ever you find this, don't stop the operation. There is still hope."

After that, the video ended. Everyone in the room stood still.

"Well," Ted broke the silence, "Past is past. Nothing we should worry about. The man, God bless his soul, has fulfilled his mission. We are all here now, right?"

Yeah, past is past. It still unnerved EVE though, finding out that Operation: Cleanup had a dark history.

For Wall-E, he grew even more curious as a part of his past was revealed.

At least, for EVE and Wall-E, it was the end of their problem. At least the files regarding everything about Operation: Cleanup was right here in the disc. All they had to do was skim for Wall-E's blueprints, and it would be all over.

"Yes, they're all here!" Ted exclaimed. "The blueprints, the parts, logs, data, they are here! If we could get his blueprints to the Axiom's database, we could not just manufacture Wall-E's parts- we could even upgrade him!"

Lucky for Ted, EVE didn't bulldoze him the same way she bulldozed Captain Gregory. The probe just wrapped Wall-E in an embrace.

EVE had never felt that much joy in her entire existence. Wall-E wrapped his arms around EVE's smooth frame and felt her happiness radiate to him. He was happy too.

Upgrade. That was a word Wall-E knew all too well. It was a 'robotic' term, but he preferred using 'mature' or 'evolve' as they sounded more human. But 'upgrade'?

That word meant he will be capable of reaching EVE's level in terms of technicality and usefulness.

It was a 'robotic' term, but he liked it.

Then, Ted poured a bucket of ice water on them, "What?"

The two robots looked at the screen. Ted continued, "All the files... They are corrupt! Destroyed! Matthews was unable to successfully transfer them!" Ted then studied the papers, "and in his hurry, he must have left some of the documents in the base!"

EVE's heart- or processor, skipped a beat and this strange feeling started to overwhelm her, "Blue...print?"

Ted lowered his gaze and muttered, "Sorry."

"Eevah?" Wall-E squeezed his beloved's hands, feeling her distress.

EVE didn't squeeze back.

"But!" Ted lifted his head up high, in an attempt to lighten up the mood.

It didn't work.

"I will continue working on this tonight. By tomorrow morning, I promise you, I will have some answers ready. There's bound to be something among all these books and papers!" and he waved his hands at his disorganized collection.

* * *

That night, the two robots watched "Hello, Dolly" side by side, their silence reflecting on the gloom that was radiated by the white probe. Despite the fact that their emotions were in a balancing scale of hope and hopelessness, the fact that hope had still shown up countless times no longer disheartened Wall-E.

He was now hopeful.

For EVE however, the fact that hopelessness had shown up countless times, despite all the hope, had disheartened her.

She felt hopeless.

Wall-E found it to be quite difficult to watch the movie with only one eye since he was blind on the other, but having watched it countless times for the past eight and a half centuries had branded the movie in his robotic mind. As a result, he still felt like he was watching the movie with both eyes functioning.

Despite that handicap, Wall-E hoped nothing else from his systems would break down. EVE did not need that right now.

Then, their most memorable scene played. Wall-E began to hum along the tune of "It Only Takes a Moment" in an attempt to cheer her up, and when the part came when the two humans started to take each other's hands, Wall-E followed suit and took EVE's.

Just when the humans' hands clasped together, the robots' hands simultaneously did so. Wall-E never stopped humming through the entire scene and he never let go of EVE's hand.

He looked up at his forlorn companion, "Eevah?"

No response.

Not once through the entire movie did she ever look at him nor express any positive emotion, but that didn't stop him from humming and holding her hand. He saw her continue to stare blankly at the screen, the two clasped human hands reflecting off her face.

But her eyes, her blue eyes, began to show a faint glimmer of hope. It was faint, but it was there.

Wall-E knew that she was not going to give up. And he would be there to support her; if not for himself, then simply because...

"And that is all..."


	9. Chapter 9

"News flash!" Ted beamed at the two robots. "DRW500S, the courier bot hitched a ride in one of the transport ships similar to the EVE probe transport. The courier bot was detected as a hitch hiker and was thrown in the Axiom's trash compactor. You were lucky, Wall-E, as your inexistence in the Axiom's system saved your life one-fifty years ago. Anyway, luckily for the bot, maintenance personnel found him and the files, and brought them to Captain Reardon. Unfortunately, AUTO managed to stop him. The good captain put the files in a clear, blue envelope and hid it in the Axiom's library, hoping that the next captain would continue on what he had failed at. Unfortunately, he passed away before he could tell the incoming Captain Fee or anyone about the files and so, it was forgotten."

EVE elicited a "Oh" in understanding.

Ted raised a small book, "Captain Reardon's diary. The last diary of a captain to be written on paper. Every diary afterwards were typed on the computer."

Wall-E blinked at Ted's proud and smiling face. Wall-E found it funny as Ted's hair was disheveled, there were bags under his eyes, and he hasn't changed his clothes since the day before. Basically... The man needed a major solar recharge.

"Oh! I'm sorry, come in! Come in!" the human let the two in before closing the door behind them.

"Blueprint?" was the very first question EVE asked.

"Ah yes. I worked all night long and guess what I found?" He motioned for the two robots to come over, "Ovens are pretty neat, but they're dangerous. Could start fires."

The robots didn't respond.

Ted fumbled with the papers on his desk, "Blueprints. Right. Here's what I found out regarding the modus operandi of Stage Two..."

"Based on what I have here, as well as written copies from the Axiom's database- thank Captain Gregory for that- here are the happenings during that time. Not all humans evacuated from Earth. Some were left to take advantage of the chaos and confusion: mercenaries and money hungry individuals sought to take advantage of the chaos. Their main goal was to take control of the entire Stage two part of the operation. Their target was Clark base- the base where Engineer Steve Matthews and his team worked. That was the main base of operations for all wall-e units. That was where they were built, checked up on, repaired, etc. From there, one could manually control the Land Crawlers, Air Skimmers, and the wall-e units. Each wall-e unit's designation is written this way: area of operation, dash, L if it's from a Land Crawler, A if it's from an Air Skimmer, another dash if it's a wall-e unit. If it's a crawler or a skimmer, there's no dash. Then model number comes after.

Wall-E, your designation is NS-L-713. NS being this area, L for you being a Land Crawler-based unit, and 713 being what unit number you were built. Your 'home'- your Land Crawler's designation is NS-L15. It was the fifteenth Land Crawler built. Not really relevant, I know, but it's good to know because it will be easier to navigate through the numerous Crawlers that you'll come across on your journey."

Eh"?" Wall-E replied.

"Let me continue. Clark base, to protect itself from those mercenaries, had defensive guns installed and its location was not given out. If the mercenaries took control of the base, they could take over the clean-up process and suck BnL dry. The blueprints for all the machinery, the transports, the wall-e units, everything, are hidden safely in Clark base. All we need to do is find a way to determine the base's coordinates. Then you can get the blueprints and we can have Wall-E fixed like new."

"How?" EVE asked, "No data"

"That is why you needed to know the designation numbers. You see, I got a lucky break here." the human took a print out of the logs stored in the Axiom, "According to this, moments before the infamous deactivation of 2108, a Land Crawler was on its way back to Clark base for its routine check-up and repair. The unit reported some engine difficulties and it was disabled. If you can find the vehicle, you can check its navigation system to determine its course destination. That should be the location of the base. Now due to the mercenary threat, all travel logs were constantly deleted and before a Land Crawler returns to Clark for check-up, it would generate and follow eight false destination locations before finally going to the base. It would throw off any potentialy dangerous mercs from following them back to the base. Lucky for us, this Land Crawler had gone through all eight destinations and was on the final leg of the trip. The sudden deactivation would not have given it time to delete its last course heading. The Crawler's designation is MX-L38. Area MX is about six hundred and um... something, miles West from here."

Wall-E looked up at EVE. He did not understand much of Ted's story, except for designations and such. "NS-L-713..." Normally his processor would be able to quickly comprehend the complexity of what he just heard...

Normally...

Wall-E gasped. Oh no, now his processor's breaking down too...

Six hundred something? Wasn't a very precise calculation for EVE's standards. Yet one thing's for sure, six hundred miles was pretty far even for her. She still needed something exact to work with, "Coordinates?"

Wall-E watched as Ted fed EVE the details. He was glad that EVE still had some hope in her and that she was following her 'commitment'. Despite the fact that his electrical heart was breaking down, how much EVE was taking care of him still made him feel whole.

There was, however, that one word that EVE avoided. He kind of knew what that word meant... Kind of. He wasn't so sure what that word was... Started with a 'D' though. All he knew was that the last time he tried saying it, she went ballistic.

What was that word again? Diet? Was that it? Well he did remember hearing that ancient humans didn't like 'diet'. If humans hated it, then surely EVE hated 'dieting'.

Well, in Wall-E's point of view, EVE was kind of roundish... It was very confusing for Wall-E that he moaned, clutching his chest at the samr time. His processor was no longer functioning as coherently as before.

"Threats?" EVE's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Guuuns" Wall-E answered, trying to join in the conversation.

"He's right, watch out for defensive guns. Land Crawlers have them. But, there's nothing much to worry about since they're deactivated anyway."

Wall-E remembered his Land Crawler having them. When he deemed that they were no longer of any importance, he dismantled them and kept the more interesting parts as trinkets. The rest, he either salvaged or threw away.

"Although," Ted continued, "The files mentioned a unit called a 'Wall-G'. All Land Crawlers and Air Skimmers have one. Clark base was teeming with them. Do you remember anything, Wall-E? Did you have a Wall-G in your Crawler?"

Wall-E just shook his head. He did not remember seeing any Wall-G's in his Crawler. What he did remember, he actually didn't want to remember.

EVE just inquired, "Wall-G?"

"Waste Allocation Load Lifter Guardian- class... Seeing the word, 'Guardian' in it, it might have been a robot built for defense so I'd recommend that you be careful around it. I know whatever those things were, they had to have been deactivated as well but even then, be ready. Good luck you two."

They said their goodbyes to Ted before EVE led Wall-E outside.

"Eevah?"

EVE took his hand, "Hope."

There was no way EVE was going to leave Wall-E out of her sight. Besides, if she was going to a base that produced Wall-E spare parts, it would be prudent to take him along and replace his broken parts instead of bringing the spares all the way back.

Also, just like her, there was no way that Wall-E was going to let EVE out of his sight.

Wall-E nodded and with that, EVE took off with him held tightly on her chest.

* * *

Six hundred something miles was far, but EVE was glad that robots didn't tire or get bored easily.

She was even more glad to know that Wall-E was there with her.

When nightfall fell, the beeping on Wall-E's chest told them that he had to take his rest. A quick check on her own systems told EVE that she wasn't far behind him. They flew for a little while longer before they found a derelict Air Skimmer that had crashed on a boulder. EVE lowered them to ground level and together they entered the Skimmer.

The interior was unruly, with parts and pieces strewn all around and mostly covered in dust. If they could shovel out more of the dirt, there would be so much room. None of Wall-E's brethren's remains could be seen and judging by the way the remaining parts were placed, the ship had been raided by mercenaries. Both their faces slightly fell as there was nothing in the vehicle that Wall-E could use. If ever his brethren were still inside the ship, they would've been buried by the humungous mound of dirt that buried all but the top part of the skimmer.

It didn't worry them the slightest for soon enough, they knew that they will be able to retrieve the much-needed blueprints. The couple shared a spark kiss before EVE tucked Wall-E on one of the rollers. Then she gently rocked him to sleep before she followed suit.

The next morning, as Wall-E recharged his power, EVE accessed the Skimmer's logs. Apparently, the airship was on its way back to its area of operation at the time of deactivation. With power suddenly cut-off, it crashed and remained where it was today. Scavengers raided the ship afterwards.

As EVE continued learning more, she realized that Ted was right. Its travel log was completely empty, and its place of origin could not be found- only the place of destination.

"Eevah?" Wall-E approached her, apparently finished. His voice still sounded bad but she learned to get used to it. He still rode bumpily and noisily (what with his broken wheel), he still had a problem moving his arm, and he was still blind on his left eye. His energy meter wasn't full and the display did not get any brighter.

Then, both of them heard a crumpling sound.

Wall-E however, felt it. Apparently, his broken compactor hydraulics suddenly expanded (as it usually does when trash has been turned into a cube and was about to be released). Now, Wall-E's cubic frame no longer looked as cubic anymore; It was slightly opened up.

"Wall-E" EVE said worriedly as she rushed to her partner.

Wall-E started opening and closing his frame, hoping that the next time he closed it, it would fully close. It wouldn't. Instead, they heard a clanging noise from within and that told them that things even became worse.

EVE held on his cubic frame and tried to close it herself, half-trying and half-scared to completely fix it, "Wall-E..." but it still wouldn't close.

Wall-E gently pushed EVE's hands away and backed up a little. Then, he tried opening and closing his frame again but this time, he added some footwork (or in his case, wheelwork) to it. Then he hummed to the tune of, "Put On Your Sunday Clothes." his hopeful eyes looked at hers as he attempted to convey to her that he was alright.

It wasn't fake.

"Wall-E..."

The yellow robot stopped. Then he raised his hand, "Hope."

EVE closed her eyes. Then slowly, they contorted to express a smile. She lifted her hand and clasped Wall-E's outstretched one, "Hope."

Wall-E nodded. Then EVE took him and flew, taking care that he wouldn't suddenly open up and drop all his interior metal parts on the ground.

They still had four hundred something miles left to go.


	10. Chapter 10

They should have been there by now. If not for Wall-E's fragile condition and EVE's need to recharge, what could have been a two day journey had become a three day adventure.

Wall-E's weight caused EVE to exert more power on her propulsion system, thereby draining her power a lot faster than normal. It didn't help that she had to fly slower than usual as Wall-E looked like a slinky dog. Since his cubic frame could not fully close and lock in place, the bumpiness and the wind from the flight, aided by gravity's power, would force him to open.

However, his internal systems (or whatever left that was working) were positioned and geared in the frame's closed position. In effect, the external forces are fighting against the forces of Wall-E's internal system. As they travelled, Wall-E's frame fought between slightly opening and closing, as if there were springs installed.

Despite the awkwardness and uncomfortability in his position, Wall-E actually found his dilemma slightly amusing. A rational mind would not laugh at that situation, but then again, Wall-E possessed human characteristics. If he couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of his situation, then he'd chuckle for his partner.

Because EVE did not find it funny at all. Aside from Wall-E's life-and-'that-word-she-would-not-learn' situation, she also possessed human characteristics. And let's face it: Flying around with a disabled being is not fun at all and it is very, very, draining.

It also did not help that the squeaking noise and the noise of metal banging against metal caused by Wall-E's slinky-dogging were getting to EVE's electrical nerves.

So she wrapped her fins as far as she could on Wall-E to help stop his slinky action.

Wall-E was grateful for her help with that. He was also grateful that she managed to be as gentle as she could.

Eventually though, he could feel her fins slowly change from "gentle", to "a little too gentle", to "okay, that wasn't that gentle", to "wait, that's not right", to "tight", to finally, "too tight".

While they travelled, EVE scanned the wasteland for any broken down wall-e units or any transport that could house some parts that could keep Wall-E up for the duration of their adventure.

Adventure. Now that was a positive sounding word. Humans enjoyed adventures, EVE recalled. They were exciting, unusual, and just plain fun, although the purpose of this adventure was anything but.

She wondered why that word came to her mind. Maybe it was because she was flying to places she had never been to before. Maybe she's enjoying the freedom of her flight. Humans said that the essence of adventures were amplified if they undertook it with people they wanted to be with. Maybe that was it. Or maybe because she had 'hope'.

Her companion's condition was no better than hers. EVE? She was broken internally. He however, was broken both internally and externally and to top it off: everyday, he had to live with the realization that he had a problem.

Logically, he should be the one who was hopeless while she had to be the beacon that would give him hope.

Logically.

As she had learned recently, logic was a term more suited towards robots.

"Eevah!"

Wall-E's sudden yelp snapped her out of her processing and looked towards the direction he was pointing at...

With Wall-E's condition and her low energy level, she really did not need a sandstorm right now.

Immediately, she turned to the opposite direction the sandstorm was moving. There was no shelter around so they both had to rely on her speed.

With a force of nature that moved nearly twice as fast as the burdened probe, it was only a matter of time.

Seconds, to be more precise.

Suddenly, EVE's world turned dark. It was as if she was watching nightfall at a drastically increased pace. She could also feel the grains of sand and various other objects she did not want to know hit her and Wall-E's frames. With the unbelievable strength of the storm, EVE could not maintain control of her flight.

"Eevah!"

"Wall-E!"

EVE figured that the best thing they could do was to move against the storm. With both the storm's speed in conjunction with her speed and direction, she hoped that they will be able to escape the storm quickly by exiting behind it. The action however, demanded an extra boost to her propulsion system for the storm was strong enough to easily drag her along with it.

"Hold.. On!"

"Dooon't. Leeet. Gooo!"

Immediately, her display registered that her power level dropped by two bars. She was now running low but she still had enough. What worried her was that the dust was entering Wall-E's internal systems. It didn't help that his frame wasn't locked in the closed position.

EVE fought as hard as she could against the storm when suddenly, she felt something hard bang against her fin- must be a piece of debris. It threw her off a bit but finally, her systems told her that her propulsion systems were not as burdened anymore.

Come to think of it, her fins were not as burdened either... Her eyes grew large as a painful realization hit her...

"Waalleee!" but it was too late. Her scream had drowned out Wall-E's own scream for her name as he fell.

Then, EVE's navigation system flashed red, the warning beeps that appeared simultaneously drowned out her screams.

In an instant, EVE felt a sudden resistance on her flight. It was as if she smashed into something large and sturdy yet surprisingly soft. It only took her a few seconds to realize that she had crashed before her systems shut down.

* * *

**REBOOT**

Slowly, EVE's vision came into focus as her cameras started to process her vision data and transmit it to her. The first thing that greeted her on her display as she regained control of her systems were, "**ENERGY LEVEL DANGEROUSLY LOW**". Beside it, her energy level had only one bar left and it was blinking. She needed to recharge.

She was almost completely covered with dust but she managed to get out. Immediately she called out to her beloved, "Wall-E!" hoping that he would hear her. "Wall-E!"

EVE lifted higher off the ground to get a better view of her surroundings. Wall-E could not have gotten far. "Walleee!" Again, her low energy warning began pestering her. She didn't care.

Anyway, her back-up power would kick in, giving her an extra twenty minutes to look for him. Hopefully, that would be enough time; she should be able to find him by then. She hoped that nothing else happened to him, that he didn't "forget to breathe".

"Waalleee!"

**ENERGY LEVEL CRITICAL. SWITCHING TO BACK-UP POWER.**

"Waalleee!" since she could not find his body on the ground, EVE was now on the look out for unusually bulky mounds of dirt. When she found them, she'd frantically dig each one of them, hoping to find him buried under.

It was of no avail.

She had already gone as far as two miles but she still could find no sign of him. Not even some of his parts. EVE started to lose hope, but her commitment held strong. She continued searching and failing.

Maybe now, in this situation, losing hope was logical for her.

However, if ever something bad happened, if he "forgot to breathe", then she should've seen his motionless body by now, right?

Or maybe he... He... You know, from that fall... and then the storm took whats left of him away... "No! Waalleeee!"

But then she knew that Wall-E will not forget. She was still breathing, so he didn't forget, right? She had fifteen minutes left. She had to find him fast.

Fifteen minutes was not enough.

* * *

**REBOOT**

Once again, EVE woke. This time, she did not wake to a dust-filled sky; instead, she woke to a ceiling with a broken fluorescent light hanging from it. The sudden change of environment alerted her as she did not remember entering any form of structure or shelter. All she remembered was that she ran out of back-up power in the middle of the wasteland as she looked for Wall-E...

EVE gasped.

"Wall-E!" she hasn't found him yet. She had to continue her search. EVE did a quick check on her systems before activating the systems that oversaw her locomotion. Fortunately for her, despite the crash, everything was in perfect working order. Her energy level was almost half-way full which should last her a couple hours more.

Fortunately for her...

How about Wall-E? Is he as fortunate? EVE scanned for the nearest exit. She had to find him and she will not stop until she did.

But she didn't have to, because he found her.

"Eevah?"

There, beside the spot where she had just lay, was a yellow metallic cube. The cube wasn't perfect for it was slightly opened up. From the top of the cube, a pair of binocular-like eyes were looking back at her, awakened by the sound of the white probe's calls.

"Wall-E?" EVE hovered closer to her companion, disbelief, worry and relief in her tone.

The cube slowly extended its arms and legs, emitting a grinding sound as it did so. The yellow robot became more lively once his vision registered an active white probe approaching him, "Eevah!"

"Wall-E!" EVE wrapped her fins around his cubic frame and breathed a sigh of relief. Then she cupped his binocular eyes with her hands, "Wall-E...". EVE noticed that the lens cover on his left eye was shattered.

He probably did not know about that damage since his microchip could no longer transmit signals on his left eye.

EVE pulled back to get a good look at him, hoping that that was the only damage he suffered.

"Eevah?" Suddenly, her scanner activated and Wall-E shielded his eyes from the bright blue light that swept his frame, "Whoa!" After she was done, he noticed her eyes were now expressing sadness but still, she managed to give him a weak smile.

That smile was mainly out of relief. For Wall-E, that was a good thing.

EVE closed the gap between them and gently cupped his head between her fins. Then she brought her own head to touch his, whispering, "How?"

Wall-E pulled back and brushed EVE's fins away from his head and then trapped them with his hands. He closed his eyes (or eye) and with a sigh and a slight bowm he tried his best to tell her his experience...

* * *

_When he fell during the sandstorm, Wall-E's instincts told him to retract his appendages and hope his malfunctioning cubic frame would hold out from the impact. Lucky for him, the ground was somewhat soft, cushioning his fall._

_From the speed and angle of his crash, he bounced a couple of times until he came to a stop outside the storm. Good for him, he was still intact. The dust that had accumulated inside his body had served as cushions to minimize the rattling of his broken parts. All that bouncing he underwent afterwards had managed to shake most of that dust out of his body._

_Then he remembered shutting down._

_After he came to, he extended back to his original form. With a "Grrrrrrrrr", he shook his body like a dog to remove the final traces of dust from his system. He did not know how long he was out but he had to find EVE. Night was approaching and he did not want to leave her behind. A quick check of his appendages, and he was off to find her._

_"Eevah!"_

_It did not help that his energy level was also low. Finding her on this expanse of land without aerial support and speed will take hours. Still, he was determined not to leave her. Wall-E unfolded his solar panels to prepare his power for a long and arduous search._

_But his solar converter, the machine that grabbed the sun's energy and converted it to power, was badly damaged during the fall. It barely functioned, if ever it functioned at all, converting energy at a drastically reduced rate. The rise of Wall-E's energy meter slowed to a crawl. With a dejected sigh, Wall-E abandoned this time-consuming activity and put away his solar panels._

_If EVE found out about it... She wouldn't find out. Not until he found her first. The yellow robot hoped that he would find her with what little power he had left._

_"Eeevaaah!" He was hopeful that he would find her. Somehow, he knew he would._

_That's when Wall-E found out just how powerful hope was._

_He found her lying deactivated on the ground a couple hundred feet away from his initial landing spot._

_Wall-E tried to wake her up but to no avail. He tapped on her blank screen and poked her, hoping that she would hear his voice. "Eevaah!" fearing the worst, Wall-E shook her lifeless body. Maybe she just ran out of power. He hoped that was it._

_"Eevaah!" There was faintly more static on his voice, due perhaps from the damages acrued from the fall. He dared not call out her name anymore as he theorized that maybe his horrible-sounding voice actually condoned EVE's continual shutdown._

_He knocked on her frame and shook her before sighing from receiving no response._

_Night was beginning to fall and coupled by his low energy meter, they had to find shelter fast. As much as his weakened body could, Wall-E picked her up and gently carried her._

_The stress of carrying her was prompting Wall-E to just drag her along the ground but he couldn't... He just couldn't... If EVE found out..._

_He'd wish that he had broken down a long time ago._

_The trip was arduous and draining for him but he didn't complain. Besides, he now knew what EVE must've felt carrying him the way she did. Aside from that, EVE was very light while he was made of extremely durable materials and very dense metals._

_In short, he was very heavy._

_Wall-E received a lucky break when he found an old ranch house in the middle of a dusty wasteland that once was covered with grass and cattle. That humble abode would do._

* * *

After he was done, EVE hugged and kissed him, softening up Wall-E's serious reminiscing.

But then, his binocular eyes suddenly expressed deep remorse, "Sssoooorreeee..." then he tapped his finger on his head- the part where his binocular eyes were connected to and at the same time, housed his sensor system...

His sensor system. "Sssaaand-tooorm."

EVE understood what he was trying to say. His sensor system... Had also broken down. He was unable to detect the incoming sandstorm until it was too late and he was blaming himself for the separation and worry.

But EVE did not accept that apology. She shook her head.

That was because it wasn't his fault! He was already breaking down anyway, and sooner or later that was bound to happen! And, and- No! She was not going to think of that! No!

"No! No!" as EVE continued shaking her head, "Me! EVE!" she placed all the blame upon herself.

By blaming herself, she thought it would take away the pain of the grim reality that's befalling her love. Wall-E blaming himself was, for EVE, his grim acceptance of his fate. Although deep down inside, she knew that he had already accepted it, she did not want him to. She did not want him to lose hope.

Even if she was the one who was losing it.

Maybe she was the one who could not accept fate. She did not want to learn. It was better that way, if only it could take away the pain and fabricate a different reality- one that she could face.

EVE brought her fins together, then quickly separated them. She brought them together again, then separated them again, as if letting go of something.

Wall-E's processor wasn't as fast as it used to be so it took a while for him to understand what she was trying to say. But when he did, "Eevah...",

Wall-E realized that she was blaming herself for letting go.

She let go of him during the sandstorm and now she was letting go of hope. EVE once again brought her fins together and quickly spread them apart. She had already relayed the message to Wall-E but now it seemed that she was locked in that trance of bringing her fins together and spreading them apart. Wall-E noticed that her eyes were trance-like emotionless, as if a horrible realization had struck her.

She was failing her 'commitment' and now she was tearing herself apart.

"Eevah..." When EVE once again brought her fins together, Wall-E quickly caught the ends, "No." and brought both her hands together before wrapping them with both of his.

This snapped EVE out of her trance and slowly, she gazed down at their hands then to Wall-E's hopeful binocular eyes.

For Wall-E, EVE had never let go. Not ever, and the only reason why he was full of hope was because EVE was full of hope herself. He wanted her to hold on to that.

Because Wall-E never wanted to forget. Not ever.

"Wall-E..." EVE closed her eyes, slowly calming down and letting the feel of his hands on hers replace her worry. They stood that way in silence until Wall-E's message to her was fully received and understood.

Then the warning beep from the yellow robot's energy meter told him that he had to deactivate and conserve his power already. With that, EVE too, realized that she had to do the same.

Wall-E let go of EVE's hands, rolled back a little and before EVE could deactivate, the trash compactor lifted a robotic finger as if telling her to wait a minute. Then he took EVE's hand and led her to a room where a peculiar-looking apparatus stood.

Judging by the way it was built, EVE assumed that Wall-E had just recently created this... thing. A quick scan taught her that it was an ancient human resting apparatus that was called a HAMMOCK.

Come to think of it, she recalled Ted using one a long time ago and Wall-E must have had it stuck on his mind. This one he made was different though- instead of a soft, cloth like material, Wall-E used some sort of a sturdy, leather canvass. Then it dawned on her... "Wall-E?"

Wall-E did not pay her any mind as he checked and made sure the metal posts would hold. The Hammock incident with Ted was also stuck in his mind. That time, he was about to show the human a pocket watch that he found. Apparently, Ted was not yet accustomed to getting out of the hammock after lying down inside.

He also was not accustomed to making one in the first place. So when Wall-E whistled for Ted to come over, Ted's furious attempt to get out met with failure. The hammock dropped to the ground with Ted still lying on it, the two metal posts exhumed themselves from the ground and folded on him. It took both EVE and Wall-E to carefully cut through the mess of cloth and metal to get him out, and then it took Ted a few days to recover from his injuries.

After Wall-E was done with the check-up, he moved to the canvass and gently rocked it with one hand. His other hand came up to pat it as he looked back at EVE, "Eevah?" then he pat the canvass again.

EVE was unsure as she slowly hovered over to the material. She could admit- the hammock incident with Ted was one amusing event. However, having that event happen to her is a totally different story.

"Wall-E?" her voice was unsure of both the hammock and Wall-E's decision to do this.

One look from her beloved asked for her trust.

He did not even have to ask.

EVE approached the side of the apparatus and took Wall-E's hand. The trash compactor did not say a word as he lovingly helped her in the canvass. Much to his relief, the canvass and the metal posts held.

It felt awkward for EVE but knowing that Wall-E was watching over her, she slowly gave in and relaxed, eventually finding it to be very comfortable. Her eyes contorted to a smile before she shut her systems down.

Wall-E knew all along that back at home, EVE had been rocking him to sleep every night. This time, it was his turn.

And he did so until he had no more power to spare.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N **

**Pretty short chapter here.  
To Cyote's Cry and Wolf's Howl: You already answered your question. Check the review you just posted, Cyote. You just wrote the answer there. Lol. Hope that helped and thanks for supporting my story.**

* * *

Darkness.

Out of the black expanse, a silhouette of light appeared in the shape of an inverted rectangular 'U'. Simultaneous to its arrival was the sound of rust grinding against rust after centuries of inactivity.

For the first time in eight hundred and fifty years, the first vestiges of light infiltrated the dusty, yet mostly preserved interior. The light slowly shone on the dusty and nearly faded designation number on the equally dusted console: MX-L38.

The light expanded even more as the big metallic door opened to reveal two figures, their shadow cast towards the metallic flooring of the Crawler. The first one was a sleek, white probe. Its blue eyes shone as intensely as the glare of the sun- its armament, raised. The weapon hummed monotonously as lights on its side signalled its activity. Behind the probe, a yellow cubic being stood close, its frame reflecting the centuries of wear and tear. Its design and structure marked its identity as one with the Crawler's former inhabitants.

The probe scanned the interior with its weapon and then, after determining no threat, holstered it. Instead of disappearing inside its body, the weapon smoothly transformed into a fin. The probe then hovered inside the dormant structure, followed by the cubic bot.

EVE began trashing the Crawler's interior. She opened cabinets, drawers, scanned for secret compartments, anything for something they could use for Wall-E but the vehicle was empty. She sighed.

Earlier that day, Wall-E told EVE about the problem he had with his solar converter. Without a second word, EVE grabbed him and took off, continuing their mission to find the derelict Land Crawler. They hoped that it carried some solar converters that Wall-E could use.

"Eevah! Look!"

EVE followed Wall-E's voice and she found him looking at the rollers inside the ship. Eight wall-e units lay in cubic form, as silently as the Land Crawler did. All had been patiently waiting for the past eight centuries for their arrival and repair in Clark base. All of them were badly damaged.

EVE and Wall-E proceeded to open them up and retrieve their power assembly. After eight centuries of inactivity, all the wall-e units' power assemblies were destroyed- corroded by the batteries' chemicals that seeped out.

Wall-E could sense that EVE was crestfallen for the place turned quiet all of a sudden. Her blue eyes, Wall-E noticed, were half-closed in defeat.

Then, she faced him, her eyes bright and positive once again, "Blueprints!" and with that, she exited the crawler and went to the front, where its computer system was located.

Wall-E stayed behind and examined the interior of the vehicle. It was nothing like his own Crawler. This one was more spacious, more... Mechanical. His was more cluttered, more... Human.

Speaking of human... Ted mentioned that each Land Crawler carried one Wall-G unit- whatever that was. He personally had not seen one yet. He did not even know that one even existed. If ever his Crawler- NS-L15, did have a Wall-G unit, he did not recall. This one might have a Wall-G somewhere and his curiosity towards the elusive unit prompted him to search the Crawler for its Wall-G.

EVE learned a great deal about MX-L38. This particular Land Crawler always frequented Clark base for check-up and repairs because its area of operation had the harshest environment ever- frequented by powerful sandstorms and floods. There had been plans to retrofit the Crawler to handle improved wall-e units that were more suited to its work environment.

The last time it had its check-up and repairs, the Crawler was given 112 wall-e units. Some of the wall-e's had survived two check-ups serving on the Crawler but most of the wall-e units it was given were brand new. The average lifespan for a wall-e unit to survive the harsh environment of its work area would be thirteen check-ups. On MX-L38, four check-ups was the highest. The Crawler had already lost 104 wall-e units by the time of its designated return for check-up and much needed retrofitting, coming back with only eight wall-e's- the ones that were currently laying still on the rollers.

The Crawler had also lost its Wall-G and its engine failure was caused by flood water that managed to enter a crack in its engine hold.

But most importantly, the one thing that EVE had been searching for was still there, exactly like Ted said: The coordinates for Clark base.

She inputted the coordinates in her navigation computer.

Her joy slightly dropped when she realized that the trip was another three hundred something miles North from their current location. With Wall-E's condition, he will be unable to handle such a long trip. So EVE decided that they will spend the rest of the day looking for spare parts and fixing Wall-E enough to cover the flight. But she also had to hurry because she didn't know just how long his power assembly would last.

Besides, the base should have extra brand new power assemblies that they could use, and since they haven't been used yet, there was no possibility of the chemicals corroding and destroying them. Aside from that, there should be brand new, eight century old spare parts as well.

And the blueprints...

With those blueprints in their possession, the Axiom would be able to integrate Wall-E into the system. With that, his own spare parts and upgrades could be manufactured by the ship.

That day was spent mostly inside the derelict Crawler. The eight wall-e units, despite their near hopeless parts, still managed to cough out a few important things here and there. Thanks to them, Wall-E's hydraulic problem was all but fixed.

EVE was extremely relieved for that. No more worry that he might spill his metal guts all over the place, and that annoying sound... Finally! Although, she could admit, she kind of missed Wall-E's slinky dog feature. She found it quite amusing and somewhat cute while it lasted.

Wall-E was still unable to restore complete working function to his mini-trash compactor though, but at least his frame was no longer agape and now it was locked in place.

Another problem they managed to somewhat fix was Wall-E's communication box. Right now, his voice was no longer full of static. They threw out his old communication box and tried out the eight different communication boxes from the wall-e's. Out of the eight, two of them sounded better than the rest.

The first one sounded like a phlegm-filled voice while the second was, much to both robots' surprise, baritone. A small argument broke out between the two as Wall-E found the phlegm-like voice fascinating.

EVE however, found it disgusting and was more enthralled by the baritone sounding one.

She won that argument when she managed to convince Wall-E that whenever he hummed to the tune of "It Only Takes a Moment" or "Put On Your Sunday Clothes", he'd give them a nice baritone feel (which, she told him, would not sound bad)...

Luckily, Wall-E brought his tape recorder and tried it out.

EVE then wished she hadn't convinced him. Unfortunately for her, Wall-E seemed to like his new, eight-century-old voice.

EVE groaned inwardly as Wall-E continued trying out his new voice karaoke style. They reeally needed those blueprints.

The entire day, Wall-E spent his time waiting as EVE went out to scavenge parts from nearby wall-e's. She would come back with parts which did not meet Wall-E's approval. Then without a second word, she'd go out and find other parts somewhere else.

Since the voice box problem, EVE hasn't found a part that Wall-E could use. Wall-E was starting to feel bad for her and he hoped that EVE would stop her fruitless search already and just spend the remaining time with him. Whenever she came back, he'd try to tell her to stop but before he could express that desire to her, she'd be off, continuing her search on unmoving wall-e units strewn around the area.

Eventually, it'd take longer and longer before she'd come back, as the nearby wall-e's were unsalvageable. She'd look further and further away from the area and everytime she'd leave, worry would grip Wall-E.

EVE just knew that there would be something out there for Wall-E to use. Maybe the next wall-e would cough out something. Or the next. Or the next. Maybe the next group a mile away would be better...

"Wall-E?" EVE held out a new batch of parts for him to see. The parts, though they looked okay, were actually useless, just like the others she presented to him before. Of course, EVE didn't know that.

This time, Wall-E nodded his head, "Yes."

Relief could be seen on EVE's blue eyes. She handed the parts to him- a suspension bar and a wheel before turning around in search of more.

This time, Wall-E grabbed her fin and stopped her from leaving, "Eevah."

"Overtime."

"Eevah..." Wall-E did not let go and shook his head in disagreement.

"Wall-E... Parts."

"No. Stop." with his free hand, Wall-E brought it up and laid it on his chest.

"But..." he would not let go of her, so EVE reluctantly followed. She did not leave.

The yellow robot then began to examine the suspension bar and the wheel before he proceeded to disassemble his.

But EVE caught that look in his eyes. It was the same look he'd given her countless times earlier. She hovered towards him and caught his hands. Then slowly, she lowered them until he let go of the part. She understood. "Broken."

Wall-E tried to give importance to her fruitless searching up by installing the broken part she had just brought him. EVE however, would have none of that. Her sudden and strong urge to go out once more and find workable parts was halted by his voice.

"Eevah, stay."

He watched as EVE's eyes stared longingly out of the Crawler and towards the barren wasteland, completely oblivious to a different pair of eyes that stared longingly at her.

For EVE, going out there, hoping that the next part that she would bring back would work, was, in some way, a form of freedom for her. It helped stem her anxiety as she felt that she was actually doing something to fix him up. It was this kind of freedom that kept her hopeful- kept her alive.

But no. Out there was not where that freedom was.

Wall-E saw her turn around, her eyes softened to that loving gaze she always gave him. She then inched closer towards him and gave him a warm embrace. Yes, EVE thought. It was this freedom- the one that kept her hopeful and kept her alive.

The two lovers huddled together and enjoyed each other's company, their eyes no longer longing.

Then, Wall-E reached for the controls in order to close the Crawler's door, just as a sandstorm appeared.

It was pitch black inside the derelict Crawler, except for the faint glow coming from EVE's blue eyes. The feel of each other's frames and their hard, yet delicate robotic fingers intertwined with each other was all they needed as they prepared for the final leg of their journey.

I'm sorry-

Adventure.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**

**gryphonworks: It's okay. Naturally, we do not really like change especially if something is already good. So, your feelings about the story is understandable. Thank you for supporting my fic though. Much appreciated.**

**Wolf's Howl: The revised story idea is much better. However, I'm afraid I won't be able to take your story. First of all, I find it very difficult to write someone else's story idea. I work better coming up with my own story ideas and just by giving advice and suggestions to others' ideas. Secondly, I'm having a hard time trying to find time to write, plus I don't have that much motivation in writing. Your story idea might just be left unfinished and forgotten just like some of my own stories. It's better to have someone else who would be able to do justice to your story. Or better yet, go back to writing and develop it just the way it was meant to be. Sorry about that.**

**Okay, on to my tale.**

* * *

The bright, brown sky was upset by a figure that tore through it. It was early morning, and the couple did not want to waste anymore time. They had to get to the base as soon as possible to replace Wall-E's power supply and retrieve his blueprints.

The two- well actually, EVE, did not wait for the sunrise. In the darkness of the wee morning hours, they left. Despite Wall-E's protests, EVE felt pressed for time especially now when time concerned Wall-E's survival.

Wall-E found no point in resisting EVE. He could recharge on the way.

At least the haphazard, on-the-field repair he underwent the past day had allowed him to once again handle the stress of EVE's high-speed flight. The sun had barely lifted off the horizon when the two had already covered close to one hundred miles on their trip. It won't be long before they reached the base.

The two didn't say a word to each other since they left as they were intent on reaching their destination as quickly as possible. Any form of conversation or interaction would slow EVE down. Finally, a dead waterfall began to loom on the horizon in front of them. The waterfall had been completely covered by a huge dam, and on top of the dam was a small complex of industrial-like structures.

A small spaceport could also be seen beside the complex. As they neared the site, a large sign on one of the gates read, "Welcome to La Mesa Hydro power plant."

At first sight it did not look like a large wall-e command center and manufacturing plant but EVE knew better. Her navigation system did not make any mistakes and considering the mercenary threat eight centuries ago, the base had to be hidden.

From their vantage point up in the sky, a large set of garage doors that seem to be embedded on the side of the mountain a mile away from the plant could be seen. Wall-E pointed this out to EVE and she observed that those doors were large enough for two Land Crawlers to pass through side by side, just like in the video that engineer Steve Matthews made.

Clark base was underground, masked by the dam. Judging by the distance the garage doors were from the plant, the base was large. The buildings and facilities that could be seen above ground were nothing comapared to the size of the complex below ground.

Instead of navigating their way through the complex above ground to reach the underground base, EVE flew to the garage doors by the side of the mountain. She landed in front of the doors and set Wall-E down, then she blasted a whole on the door with her laser cannon and entered the complex. Wall-E followed behind.

Once they were both inside, only one thought came into their minds:

They made it.

The large hangar-like area they found themselves in was the exact same room in the engineer's video. After eight centuries of inactivity, everything still seemed intact, yet extremely dusty. The robotic arms were still there, the wheel clamps, the conveyor belt...

The place however, was devoid of any wall-e unit. The only explanation EVE had for that was, at the time of deactivation, they were all deployed. That was actually favorable to them though, because that meant that there were parts that had been manufactured and not yet put to use.

EVE and Wall-E suddenly felt overwhelming joy and the couple wrapped each other in an embrace. Then they shared a spark kiss.

Soon their suffering, their worries, will be all over.

EVE transformed her right fin back into the laser cannon and with her left hand she took hold of Wall-E's hand, uttering "Stay close" before they cautiously explored the structure. Wall-E felt a sudden and unexplainable wave of nostalgia, as he came back to the place where he first existed.

First thing they kept an eye out for was the control room. From there, EVE could download the base schematic in her system and hopefully a data form of the blueprints. It was unlikely that the base would still continue to hold the files for the blueprints.

If the entire Second Stage of the operation was shut down, then most likely, the more important files regarding the operation and manufacturing of the units would be deleted, like blueprints and such.

The only data left would be the base's schematics, and other miscellaneous files not completely essential to the operation. These miscellaneous data were still important though, just in case somebody wanted to restart the operation. Aside from that, all robots were equipped with killswitch systems that will fry the robots' own circuitry and data files. Those who were planning to restart an operation needed to have the foundation given by the still intact miscellaneous files to step on in order to start-up the machinery. And only someone who was knowledgeable about the system (namely BnL executives and engineers) will be the only one who can restart it. Anybody else wouldn't be able to understand the data. This precaution prevented thieves from stealing the entire operation.

If the blueprints were deleted, EVE will be able to find, from the base's schematics, where all the back-up written documents were. The blueprints should be there. Ted had mentioned that engineer Matthews left the written blueprints here in someone's hands. He did not specifically say who, but it was someone they trusted to keep the documents safe in one of the secret rooms and it would just be kept in the base until somebody came to restart Operation: Cleanup. It was too risky to send the blueprints to the Axiom where it could be found and destroyed. At least here, that risk was drastically reduced.

Wait a minute, did he say someone, or 'something'?

EVE switched on her built-in night vision as they traversed deeper into the dead base. Wall-E was unfortunately not-equipped with such an advanced feature so he relied on his partner's hand for guidance along the dark corridors. Eventually, EVE managed to work their way, not to the control room, but to the maintenance area, (thanks to the signs posted on the walls) and restore power to the facility. Huge generators sputtered loudly as they shredded the cobwebs from their machineries.

Eventually, after that sudden reawakening jolt, they hummed once again. Eight centuries of inactivity resulted in squeaking noises from most of them. Soon, the lights turned on.

Wall-E watched, his only remaining eye sparkled as the lively glow of the ancient machines reflected on the eye. EVE laid a fin on his hand and felt a smile cross her screen as a soft giggle escaped her speaker. Her laugh was contagious as Wall-E soon found himself following suit.

The lights from the large, eight century turbines were dim yet as bright as the moon, the brightness which they would usually see whenever they had their romantic evening flights.

When the two left the maintenance area, Wall-E and EVE gasped at the now lighted surroundings. The base, or at least parts of it, were a mess. Overturned filing cabinets, chairs, tables, damaged and destroyed machinery were strewn about. Aside from that, there were holes on the walls, created by projectile-based weaponry.

It was a warzone. EVE was unable to pick-up the devastation in detail from her night-vision but one thing was sure: if this plant was able to hide this kind of secret from her eyes and from the eyes of humanity, what other secrets was the place still keeping?

Good secrets, she hoped.

EVE did not want to hang around longer to find out. She dragged Wall-E across the plant, laser cannon at the ready, and following the signs, headed towards the control room. Wall-E had not much time to look around the environment as he focused on not running over something that could damage his treads. He did not even have time to ponder on what he was seeing around him as EVE was dragging him at a pace he could barely keep up.

"Eevah!" was what his processor told him to do, as a means of helping him manage.

Then, EVE stopped. However, she did not turn to face him, instead, she kept staring at the room in front of her. Wall-E, curiosity getting the better of him, rolled to her side and looked inside the room. Then, he shared the same expression EVE had: shock.

Inside the room were remains- human remains. The softer parts of the remains had been eaten away by time, leaving only the skeletal structure. They still had on them the clothes they last wore, tattered and also eaten away. Only the harder apparel remained distinguishable: helmets, goggles, gas masks that hung across their bony necks, and shoes.

The guns that lay beside them and the helmets some of them wore identified these humans as the plant's security. The dirty-white remains of clothing that lay on the other remains identified these particular humans as the engineers that worked in the plant. Some of them had guns laying beside them. These engineers must have fought alongside the security personnel.

On the other side of the room, were the remains of robots the likes of which Wall-E and EVE had not seen before. They were as tall as a regular human adult, tracked, colored grey, and had two arms. One arm had a claw attached and the other had a gun. In between the arms was one autopilot-like eye that would've been glowing red if the bots were active. These machines did not exist in the Axiom's database and judging by the looks of it, the humans fought them.

"Wall-E?" EVE inquired, hoping that her beloved would have a clue.

He shook his head. He had none. Then, his deteriorating memory chip surfaced a recent memory: the video they watched in Ted's home a couple days ago: engineer Matthews had mentioned some 'cleaner bots' that BnL sent to shut the operation. These robots must be it. A quick glance to EVE showed that she was trying to access her memory logs. Eventually she figured it out as well.

But still, Wall-E felt his spirits lifted when he managed to figure it out before EVE. It made him believe that he was still useful to someone like EVE.

Before either of them could say a word, warning beeps began to ring on their ears. EVE instinctively aimed her laser cannon in the room, particularly at the deactivated robots and waited. When nothing happened, she scanned the room and searched behind them to make sure that nothing was creeping up behind them.

Then Wall-E gently placed his hand on her other fin, which caused her to look at him. "Eevah", Wall-E then tapped his power display, to where the warning beeps were coming from. He still had some power left but the display was flashing a warning, indicating a complete failure in his solar converter.

EVE yelped her distress and lowered her weapon. Without the solar converter, the energy Wall-E received from the sun can no longer be converted into his batteries' power. He was losing power normally but he can no longer recharge it. It was literally a matter of time- two days at the most...

"Wall-E", EVE moaned in grief. They had to find the control room quickly to get the location of the blueprints and the parts room which contained the power assembly that Wall-E needed badly. She took his hand and entered the room, not paying much attention to the remains as they crossed it to the other side. The plant's control room should not be any further.

Still they did not lose hope.

Unbeknownst to the two, something was stalking them. It had its eyes on the yellow cubic robot, however, it perceived the hovering white probe and its laser cannon as a major threat that it could not handle on its own. So it kept its distance, following them, patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity. Its treads left a mark across the dusty floor as it moved.

The couple continued to travel across the hallways and rooms, encountering more human and grey-robot remains. The entire base seemed to have been a battlefield with battles that have been fought in every room and hallway.

It was a horrific sight for Wall-E, almost as horrific as what he saw the first time he woke up eight centuries ago.

As they passed the sleeping quarters (which also contained more remains), a new group of remains caught his attention. Right beside a group of human remains were remains of a different kind of robots. Wall-E, upon seeing them, immediately engaged his brakes which caused EVE to jerk back and yell, "Wall-E!"

"Eevah! Look!" Then Wall-E approached the remains.

"Wall-E! Wait!" But it was too late. Wall-E was already touching the robots and examining them. EVE had no choice but to take a look herself.

The robots were very similar to Wall-E, only they were colored orange and they were twice as large as him. They possessed the same cubic characteristic as Wall-E and they had his binocular-like eyes. Their claws however, were smaller than Wall-E's and attached below their arms were metallic boxes that seemed to hold more items. Come to think of it, instead of a mini-trash compacting system on their cubic frame, the robots seemed to use that space as storage. What they stored, Wall-E and EVE didn't know.

"Wall-E?" The way he was examining the robots intrigued EVE. It was as if Wall-E knew these robots.

"Wwaaall-Gee."

"Huh?"

"Wwaaall-Gee"

EVE's eyes widened in realization. So these were the Wall-G's that Ted mentioned about! Judging by the position these Wall-G's were in, in relation to the human remains, EVE considered the robots as hostile. These bots must have gone in close combat with the humans and ripped them apart. Plus the metallic boxes under the robots' arms must have contained weapons to do the job.

But before Wall-E could examine the contents of the metallic boxes and the storage compartment, EVE pulled him away from them and trained her laser cannon at the dead machines. Wall-E, upon seeing EVE's actions, began to exhibit fear from them. He trusted EVE with his life and if EVE deemed these Wall-G's as hostile, then they must be hostile. Besides, the way they were positioned in relation to the human remains proved this point.

He was glad EVE was there to pull him away and mad that he just did a stupid thing by approaching them. After feeling that the Wall-G's no longer posed a threat, EVE and Wall-E left the sleeping quarters and proceeded to the control room.

Once both of them reached the control room however, the environment was totally different. In here, things were not as messy and destroyed unlike the battleground just outside its double doors. It still showed signs of some struggle that happened but the room was pretty neat. The room had a few tables and chairs and at the far end of the room was a wall lined up with monitors. Below the monitors was a control panel and a bunch of chairs.

In the middle of the room, laying on the floor, was a single human remain. The skeleton wore what used to be a white lab coat and a helmet, just like the engineers Wall-E and EVE had been seeing. Upon closer inspection, the faded name on the tattered and decomposed lab coat brought a skip among the two robots' hearts.

They had found engineer Steve Matthews.

He held a book in his hands, darkened and torn by the devastation of time yet surprisingly preserved. Wall-E rolled towards the skeleton and gently took the book. After examining the object, he offered it to EVE, "Daaa-daaa-yaa-rreee."

It was the engineer's diary. EVE took the book and put it in her bio-stasis chamber. The book would be a great 'thank you' souvenir to give to Ted for his collection. After that, she approached the console and began to access the base's schematics. With minimal power running, the computer system still managed to work just fine.

EVE was also glad that the interface was similar to the computers onboard the Axiom. Because of that, it wasn't difficult for her to access and download the files into her system.

As EVE continued to prod the system, she managed to find the schematics. With some familiarity regarding BnL standard operating procedures, EVE knew that they would keep sensitive material and documents in secret compartments in secret rooms. To figure out which the secret rooms were was actually simple. In every BnL schematic, every single room in the schematic was labeled. Due to the complexity of the diagrams however, there were a few small rooms drawn in them that can be easily missed since they were unlabeled. Those rooms that were unlabeled in the schematic could fool the inexperienced reader into thinking that the lack of labels were typographical errors. However, the designers knew otherwise. In one of these unlabeled rooms, there are secret compartments. In one of these secret compartments do they keep the documents.

EVE found three rooms. The blueprints they were after should be in one of those rooms. But, first things first. She looked for the garage where all the spare parts were kept. Before they looked for the blueprints, they had to replace Wall-E's power assembly.

Once that was located, EVE stored the base's points of interest in the downloaded base schematics in her system: the three secret rooms and the spare part garage. And then, they were off.


	13. Chapter 13

The spare part garage was pretty far from the control room. So far, everything was going fine for EVE and Wall-E. Despite the fact that Wall-E was still losing power, they still had hope that they will be able to save Wall-E's life.

As they neared the parts room, the signs of battle grew intense. There were more remains all over the place and the sight was beginning to fill them both with dread. When they finally reached the spare part garage, a bunch of those grey robots were stacked up on the huge, open garage door. All destroyed.

This sight worried EVE even more as it seemed to reinforce their dread. To clear a path to the spare part garage, she blew up the grey robots while Wall-E simply shoved the remnants aside. Once the path was clear, the sight they beheld confirmed their worst fears:

The spare part garage was no longer a spare part garage- it was a junkyard as it too, was not spared from combat. It was a warzone. Not just any warzone- the biggest and most destructive one yet.

Wall-E simply groaned in disappointment.

EVE however, looked like she was about to go ballistic. The white probe left Wall-E behind and entered the garage, frantically searching among the ruins for the power assemblies or at least a piece of it. Even just a solar converter. Her search was successful as she found them.

However, the condition they were in, made EVE wail in frustration. Immediately, upon hearing her wail, Wall-E rushed to his beloved's side and saw the power assemblies.

Or what was left of them.

As it turned out, the clutter of all the different metal parts which were organized in the garage provided the best cover and defensive position for the humans. It helped them a lot since the metal parts were able to withstand the projectiles that came from the grey robots' guns. All they had to do was hunker down and shoot at the grey robots that appeared on the doorway. This battle became the most intense as the robots strived to eliminate the humans holed up in the garage.

Eventually, the robots had to resort to explosives to eliminate the humans thus, destroying almost all the spare parts and the power assemblies that were caught in the crossfire.

Wall-E watched as EVE hovered in place, staring at the mangled skeletons that lay amongst the ruined shelves. Her thrusters were as silent as the dead humans and robots. "Eevah?"

"Wall-E." her voice had no trace of sadness, or grief, or anything. It was blank and emotionless. Wall-E did not know if that expression, or lack thereof, was better than any negative emotions, but it still felt pretty bad. She had her back to him so he could not read her eyes.

Still, he had to continue, "Bloopreeents"

EVE nodded, then as quietly as she had been, she turned around to face him. Her eyes showed slight disheartenment yet it was still full of determination. Once again, she grabbed Wall-E's hand and they were off to find the blueprints. Those were the only hope they had left for Wall-E's survival.

The first room they came across was a janitorial closet. In it were old cleaning supplies, most already unusable, unshielded from time's plague. EVE scanned the room for anything that could give away a secret compartment or a doorway, while Wall-E manually tried to feel for it with his hands.

In a few minutes, they were off towards the second room, empty handed yet without losing their determination.

The next room they searched was a locker room for security. Many locker doors were open with clothing and boxes of bullets strewn on the floor. It seemed that when the cleaner bots attacked, unarmed security personnel scrambled to this room to retrieve their firearms and fight back. Wall-E cut the locks on the locked lockers with his laser in order to open and examine them while EVE scanned the walls and floor to find a secret compartment or something.

Just when the two were about to give up their search on this room, Wall-E noticed bullet holes on the wall opposite the door. Since there were no signs that combat took place in this room, a line of bullet holes on a wall was peculiar. To explain the suspicious arrangement of bullet holes on the wall, somebody must have deliberately shot at the wall. Since his processor was not as advanced as EVE's, he pointed at the door and grabbed her attention with a whistle.

EVE saw the wall and approached it. The only way somebody would shoot the wall in this way was if there was a target on the other side of the wall, and that somebody found it more convenient to just shoot through it. She activated her scanner and aimed it at the bullet-riddled wall. A second later, the results came in: There was a hollow space behind the section in question.

It was the secret compartment.

Wall-E felt for any opening that could be used to open the wall. When he found it, he slid the wall section open,

Only to find a human skeleton tip over and collapse on him, "Waah!"

On instinct, EVE had her laser cannon trained on the remains. But then she realized it was a human skeleton so she put her weapon away. The two robots peered in the empty space. The space was small enough to fit a lot of important documents. However, no aformentioned items could be found. No documents meant no blueprints.

Unless there was another secret compartment in there somewhere, (which meticulous searching did not net them any) or unless...

Wall-E and EVE simultaneously looked at the dead human on the floor. Ted said that the blueprints were given to somebody engineer Matthews trusted. Could this human be that guy? Possibly, as it looked like that he must be in the process of hiding the documents in the compartment when he was killed. The two of them frisked the corpse and the clothing it had on for anything.

They found nothing but an ancient pistol. EVE sighed, concluding that this unfortunate fellow must have been so afraid of the cleaner bots' onslaught that he hid in the secret room. Unfortunately, he must have been spotted by a cleaner bot and instead of bodily dragging him out of the room, the bot must have shot through the wall instead. The shots hit their mark.

EVE moaned. She was beginning to get frustrated and it wasn't long before her eyes no longer showed the determination she had a while ago. It didn't help either that Wall-E was also beginning to lose his will.

Still, Wall-E gently took EVE's fin and held her hands firmly in his. EVE held his just as firmly then both of them began drawing strength from each other. If there was no more strength to share, they generated more.

"Hope." Wall-E spoke.

"Hope."

There was still hope. There was still one more room they had not checked yet.

The last room they checked was a pantry situated next to the base's kitchen. It was loaded with food that had passed their expiration date by a few centuries. Unfortunately, they were now wasted as there was nobody left to consume them. EVE, who usually spearheaded the search effort, could not bring herself to search this final room.

She was afraid of what they might find- or what they might not find. Two of the rooms they had searched turned out to be empty. What if this room was no different? EVE suddenly did not want to find out.

She turned away from the room, worried and scared.

Wall-E sensed her distress. He placed a reassuring hand on her fin, which EVE took and gripped firmly, before he let go and searched the room himself.

Wall-E proceeded to toss aside all the useless food in search of any secret areas or compartments. Then he felt the walls and the shelves for anything he could find. He even searched the large boxes that were labeled as containing food, but that was just what they carried. He stopped momentarily to steal a quick glance at his beloved. She still had her back to the room.

Wall-E lowered his head and sighed before continuing his search. He had finished searching half of the room when he proceeded to search the other half. Just as he was about to cross the room, "Uwaa!" one of his treads burst through a weak flooring. After retrieving his wheels, Wall-E dug through the broken floor. He had just found the secret compartment.

"Wall-E?" the sound had caught EVE's attention and now she was approaching him to investigate.

The yellow robot looked up at EVE as she came into view. "Ee-vah..."

EVE stopped. There was an uneasy silence as she knew, by the tone of Wall-E's voice and the way he looked at her, what that meant. Her worst fears had come true. Wall-E was worried for EVE when she did not respond. Not even her eyes expressed anything that he could decipher. She simply stood still, as if time had frozen.

"Eevah?"

After what seemed like an eternity, EVE turned around and left the pantry in high speed. "Eevah!" Wall-E fumbled, surprised at her sudden departure. He stumbled on the opened compartment as he rolled as fast as he could in pursuit. He knew he was no match for EVE's speed and agility but he was not about to give up on her. He was not going to let her go.

A distance away from the kitchen, a lone figure continued stalking Wall-E and EVE, and was now waiting patiently for the two to emerge out of the room. After a few minutes, the white probe emerged from the kitchen, flying back where they came from. It was later followed by the target, yelling "Eevah!" as he too disappeared in pursuit. The two are separated from each other. It was the right time. The stalker followed.

"Eeevvaaahh!" it was hard for Wall-E to keep up to EVE but at least he managed to keep her in his sight. Considering he had only one functioning eye, it was a pretty impressive feat.

EVE turned around a corner and that was when Wall-E lost sight of her. Though he could not see her, he could hear her ragged breathing- or gasping, as robots did not breathe. It seemed like EVE had stopped and Wall-E was relieved to know that.

When he turned the corner EVE disappeared to, he found her down on the ground frantically fumbling through the human skeleton's clothing next to her. After she was done, she moved on to the next one, scanning it first before dropping down to search its clothing with her fins. She moved on to the next one when she found nothing on this one.

After she was done searching the human remains, she began searching the remains of the cleaner bots. "Eevah?" When she found them clean as well, EVE disappeared again. She did not even bother to glance back at Wall-E.

"Eeevaah!" Once again, he was in hot pursuit.

Wall-E followed EVE as they backtracked through the base. EVE would stop at every single remain that she'd come across: human and cleaner bots alike and she'd frantically search them. Then she'd be off when she found nothing.

EVE repeated the same actions over and over again and it broke Wall-E's robotic heart, seeing her do this. She wouldn't even listen to him calling out her name. It was as if she had been 'programmed' to do this.

She had turned back into fulfilling her 'directive'.

Even the dead Wall-G units they found in the sleeping quarters did not escape EVE's searching eyes. This continued until they reached the first room in which they first discovered the human remains and the cleaner bots. Wall-E watched helplessly as EVE searched the skeletons and the cleaner bots and still she found nothing. She did not find anything at all during the entire episode of her frantic searching. All the worry, the heartache, the distress, the failure, the helplessness, the hopelessness... Everything drowned out the positive feelings EVE had learned. This time, an old feeling was beginning to resurface, to make its presence known... And out of defeat, EVE welcomed it.

This feeling?

Rage. Without warning, EVE started blasting the remains of the cleaner bots, then the chairs and tables in the room, then she started blasting the human skeletons as well. Wall-E cubed-up and watched in horror as EVE emotionally destroyed herself.

EVE was in pain, Wall-E felt it. He wanted to do anything to relieve her from that pain but he did not know how. Not even 'fake' would help- in fact, that might make things even worse. He didn't know what he should do but he knew he had to do something. He had promised himself that he will never let EVE feel 'pain', he loved her so much and that was his commitment.

Commitment... That was it.

Braving fear of obliteration, Wall-E reverted himself to his original form and approached the grief-stricken probe. Despite some erratic laser shots that came close to shaving his head clean off, he closed the gap between them.

"Eevah." He said as gently as he could as he reached out for her.

Just as his hand was inches away from coming in contact with hers, EVE quickly turned to face him. Wall-E held his ground as he found himself staring down the barrel of EVE's laser cannon. Her eyes showed all the anger, the frustration, the disappointment...

All aimed at him. This was the first time in EVE's entire life, that she felt total anger towards her beloved. Here he was, slowly losing his life, and yet it seemed like he did not care about it anymore. Still he followed her around like a blind puppy. Still he tried to comfort her, and tell her that everything will be okay when she knew that things will not be okay.

She was angry at him because all he cared about was her when he knew very well that everything that mattered to her was him. She was angry at him because he placed so much importance to life, so much so that his very existence was at stake. She was angry at him because he made her feel angry, because he made her feel like she could not save him.

She was angry at him because he was being illogical. EVE for once, wanted to believe in logic.

She was angry at him because she loved him so much.

All logical programming in Wall-E's processor told him to cube up and do something about this immediate threat. But Wall-E had learned centuries ago that he was not a logical robot.

He watched unfazed as the soft hum of EVE's laser cannon echoed in his ears, the glowing lights at the side of the weapon itching to generate the blast that would finish him off.

Still, Wall-E was committed. He wanted to show her that. He tip-toed with his wheels and stood as straight as he could, thereby exposing more of himself to EVE's weapon. But the weapon was not of his concern. Wall-E stood as high as he could in order to be at the same level as EVE's eyes and look deeply in them.

Wall-E saw past EVE's hard eyes, past the advanced circuitry and electric impulses behind them, past the personality of the robot he knew, and saw a scared human girl- scared because of love.

EVE saw Wall-E's binocular eyes, one eye with its components twitching and the other dead. She saw past the broken sensor system behind the eye, past the deteriorating circuitry and weak electric impulses behind them, past the personality of the robot she knew, and saw a strong human male- strong because of love.

Then, EVE's eyes softened and she began to break down and let out a moan. Her weapon began to feel too heavy for her and it slowly lowered. Wall-E was relieved. Then he spread his arms apart, inviting EVE in. Still heartbroken, she slowly approached and was wrapped in Wall-E's comforting embrace.

Then he began to hum "It Only Takes A Moment," in his baritone voice.

EVE suddenly realized that Wall-E's new voice box didn't sound too bad... In fact, it was...

Beautiful.

"Beautiful:" EVE's internal computer began, "having beauty; having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind".

No, EVE thought, love is beautiful.

"Wall-E..." EVE began. This was it, she thought. It was the end of the line for him.

For centuries, EVE had learned a lot of different things. She learned many words as well.

Now she had to accept the grim reality that the world does change. She knew that in two days her world will change.

She knew that it already did change the first time she found out that Wall-E was...

Well, EVE had to learn to accept fate. Maybe now, it was time to learn that word. It was the first step in accepting a life without him. "Wall-E..." she said again, "Di-"

"Diii-eeet?" Wall-E cut her off before she could finish.

"Diet?" she repeated, confused that he suddenly brought something that made no sense at all. But he just nodded, confusing her even more.

Wall-E held EVE's hands in his, and tried as hard as he could to fabricate a coherent sentence, or at least something that EVE would understand, "Waalleee... N-nee-veeer... Fff-fooor-geeet."

EVE gripped his hand tighter and understood. As long as she was alive, she knew that Wall-E will not forget.

But then, EVE learned that Wall-E too, was her breath of life.

"Diiieeet. Diet." Wall-E continued.

EVE smiled. Wall-E too, did not want her to learn that word. He then pulled her and they headed back towards the control room.

"Wall-E?"

"Overtime" 


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N**

**First of all, I'd like to apologize for the extremely long wait. I've been way too busy with other things right now. Rest assured, I'll finish this story but the updates will just take long.**

**To Jackel: When Wall-E's hand is turned to scrap, they'll flatten it and make a new sheet of metal out of it. The sheet of metal can now be formed into other things, like EVE's fingers.**

* * *

Back at the control room, EVE was busy accessing the other miscellaneous files in the computer system. She felt so much better now, thanks in no small part to Wall-E for forcing her to shutdown and recharge her power. Shutting down her systems and resting was a good way to forget the worries that was plaguing her mind.

Besides, the activities had drained her out and her power was low.

Now that she was awake and fully charged, she was back at work, searching the computer database for anything related to blueprints, deactivation, or anything along those lines. She searched for wall-e too but the search yielded no results. She pounded the console in frustration.

Wall-E jumped and whimpered, hoping that he wouldn't be put once again on the business end of EVE's laser cannon.

The force caused by EVE's pounding shook something inside EVE. That was when she remembered that engineer Matthews' diary was still in her bio-stasis chamber. Quickly but carefully, she took out the diary. The couple huddled together as they began to look for clues in its ancient pages.

They first started browsing near the end of the diary, on the last few entries Matthews wrote before he was killed, to find out where the blueprints went.

_**...I managed to send the courier bot to the transport ship. Hopefully, the documents will reach Captain Reardon.**_

They skipped a few pages of the diary.

**_September 1, 2108: BnL had already sent the cleaner bots after us. I could hear fighting going on outside between them and our security personnel. The base's defense guns are not working against them because the corporation must have registered the cleaner bots as friendly units to the base's defense system. So far so good, as we are holding the bots at bay._**

**_September 4, 2108: The bots have broken through our defense line. It was only a matter of time before the cleaner bots kill us and shut this base down. We must proceed to the second phase of our plan._**

**_- We had already begun the second phase. Two squads of security personnel holed themselves up in the spare part garage and drew most of the cleaner bots there. Sergeant Red 's idea was brilliant. The garage provided so much cover from the bots' high-velocity guns as well as a chokepoint that exposed them from fire. I hope that these men will be able to eliminate all of the cleaner bots. If not, at least I hope they could buy us enough time to grab the Wall-G units from the repair room._**

Another three pages were skipped.

**_September 7, 2108: I heard that the fighting is even. The men were still doing good in the garage and the cleaner bots focused much of their attention to those guys. Amidst the chaos, we had managed to grab hold of a couple of Wall-G units. With these units, we plan to program them to remove the killswitches on the wall-e's under their umbrella. Without these killswitches, the wall-e's won't be affected by the deactivation. They might suffer some damage in their memory chip and processor but they will still continue cleaning up the Earth._**

**_September 9, 2108: The men in the spare part garage were down to just one squad. The cleaner bots BnL sent were smarter than the average combat types. They started using explosives to flush out our men. I had just received a report that Sergeant Red was killed ten minutes ago from the explosives. I don't know how long the remaining men will last, but we have to work triple time. We had already removed the killswitches on the Wall-G's and are in the process of uploading the new programming codes in their system. We just need a little more time._**

They skimmed through a couple more pages when Wall-E spotted the word "blueprint" on one of the pages. He pointed this out to EVE with a low whistle.

**_September 10, 2108: I managed to retrieve the blueprints and other sensitive information from the secret compartment in the locker room. It was no longer safe to keep them here so I left our safe zone to get the documents. It didn't matter if my colleauges stopped me from going out there, since our safe zone will soon be anything but. I was lucky to have escaped a cleaner bot during my risky venture. I owe my life to my security escort who drew the bot away from me. Roy, I promise you and everyone else's sacrifices will not be in vain._**

EVE's eyes started flickered in delight when they read one particular line:

**_-I gave the papers to one of our reprogrammed Wall-G units that we are preparing to deploy._**

No wonder the papers weren't in the secret compartments! Now EVE had to figure out which Wall-G contained the documents. She flipped to the next page and began reading.

**_September 11, 2108: We lost all the men in the spare part garage and now the cleaner bots are doing a methodical sweep of all the rooms. Unfortunately, the Wall-G's are not yet ready to be deployed. I hope that we would last much longer, at least enough to get the Wall-G's safely out. If not, then at least we hope to survive the night._**

They turned to the last page of the diary.

**_September 12, 2108: We had managed to get the Wall-G's ready and now we are in the process of deploying them. All my colleagues and what's left of security left to escort the Wall-G's out of the base while I remained here in the control room to monitor the security cameras and plot a safe passage for them._**

**_- I just can't believe it! The cleaner bots managed to intercept them in the sleeping quarters! I watched as they tried to fight through the bots but they just kept on coming. I tried plotting an alternate route but it was already too late. They were dead. And the Wall-G's that were alongside them were destroyed as well._**

**_- I also had lost contact with the Wall-G unit that I gave the papers too. I was so stupid as I was unable to get the unit's designation number, but it no longer mattered. The unit should've been destroyed by now with all those cleaner bots around. There are still a few of us left that I could see in the cameras, but I doubt they will survive. They are closing in on the control room. All is lost. I hope that somebody up there on the Axiom would finish our work and bring humanity back here on Earth._**

That was the last entry on the diary. EVE returned the diary in her bio-stasis chamber, concluding that they had to find that one remaining Wall-G that contained the blueprints. They however, had already given up on the blueprints as EVE had already searched all the Wall-G's and found them to be empty.

But, the diary mentioned security cameras. Then something clicked in EVE's mind: The cameras! The recorded camera files should still be in the computer system as they were considered miscellaneous files and thus were not deleted during the deactivation.

EVE accessed the camera files. First she tried accessing the files from the base's cameras and began playing them. There the two robots witnessed firsthand the devastation over eight centuries ago as the cleaner bots assaulted the humans. Most of the feeds showed humans struggling against the bots or humans being slaughtered by them.

Then one camera feed caught their attention: Engineer Matthews putting a bunch of papers in a Wall-G's compartment. They tried to zoom in and get the unit's designation number but the writing was too small to read. Unfortunately, that was the last time they saw the unit. It was no longer shown in any other screen. All the Wall-G units they did see on the screen were destroyed by the cleaner bots, so it was presumed dead as well.

There was no use checking the base cameras' files as they were of no use to them. So EVE continued browsing the other files.

As she continued her search, an input window popped up that said,

**PLEASE ENTER UNIT DESIGNATION:**

Then something clicked in EVE's mind: all BnL units have cameras in them and each unit's camera footages are recorded in the computer system. EVE threw a look of longing at Wall-E.

Wall-E looked back at her and nodded, curiosity driving him.

Then EVE entered her beloved's designation number: **NS-L-713**. The screen turned blank and after a few seconds of anticipation, the screen started playing a footage. The footage was in Wall-E's point of view.

Here they saw Wall-E waking up alongside all his brethren. They were inside a Land Crawler, lined up and waiting for the large rear doors to open. When it did, they all rolled out to a world covered in trash. The next footages showed Wall-E and his brothers cubing trash and stacking them up. It was nothing of interest to EVE so she forwarded the footage to a different date.

The next footage showed Wall-E in the repair room performing system checks on himself. This was pressumably a routine check-up back in Clark base so EVE forwarded the footage at a different date.

Other footages showed the usual thing. Some however, showed Wall-E witnessing the loss of his brothers. Some of them just broke down in the middle of work and stopped functioning.

Some fell off cliffs, overpasses and even buildings when the trash they were rolling on slid, causing them to fall.

There was another footage of their experiences with sandstorms. One time the sandstorm struck, they were unable to get back to the safety of their Crawler and so to save themselves, the wall-e's cubed up.

After the sandstorm passed, they slowly uncubed and resumed their work. Some wall-e units however, never reverted back to their regular form.

The most memorable and horriying footage that EVE had seen so far was when the wall-e's were in the process of creating a tower of trash. The tower was already pretty high, almost as high as a ten story building, when an earthquake struck. EVE watched as her Wall-E in the screen watched the tower collapse. His brothers who were on the top fell along with the tower debris while the others at the bottom were crushed and buried by all that trash.

EVE saw the distress in Wall-E's eyes so she forwarded the footage to a date that sparked her curiosity: October 1, 2108- a few days before the deactivation. In the footage, she saw once again all the other wall-e's working, cubing trash and stacking them up. Her Wall-E in the footage damaged his shovel-hand and was unable to move it. Immediately, he broke off from the work and left the work site.

The couple watched as this Wall-E in the footage rolled back to their Land Crawler. Once he arrived, he pulled the lever beside the large doors and waited for the door to open. Once the door opened, a Wall-G unit greeted him.

The Wall-E in the footage approached the Wall-G and showed his broken shovel-hand. The Wall-G lifted its arms and the metallic box under the arms opened to reveal utility tools. The claw that was attached to the Wall-G's left arm folded in and entered the metallic box. Then from the box, a heavy-duty screw driver folded out and attached itself to the arm.

With its right arm, the Wall-G opened the compartment in the middle of its body and retrieved a brand new shovel-hand. Then it unscrewed Wall-E's broken shovel-hand and installed the new one.

EVE's eyes widened in realization: The Wall-G's were not defensive robots as they believed them to be- they were on-the-field repair bots! The Wall-E in the footage tested out the newly installed shovel-hand and was about to turn around and return to work, signifying that the Wall-G completed its job.

However, as it turned out, the Wall-G was not yet finished. It stopped Wall-E.

When the two were face to face, the Wall-G folded its screw driver in the metal box and took out a different kind of utility tool. With this tool, the Wall-G pried open the housing that contained Wall-E's computer systems. Then the Wall-G fumbled inside Wall-E's inner workings. EVE and Wall-E could not see very well what the Wall-G was doing as the camera was not panned in that direction.

Then the Wall-G yanked out a weird-looking device from Wall-E's chest.

"Waah!" The present Wall-E yelled, clutching his chest. But EVE's eyes were transfixed on the device in the Wall-G's claw. Then she gasped, as she realized what it was...

A killswitch.

EVE searched he files for more information when she came across a peculiar video file. The date when the whole operation was shut down was October 4, 2108. This video file was recorded October 5, 2108- a day after the deactivation.

When an operation was deactivated, the individual robot units affected by the deactivation would shut down immediately. The computer system, like this one however, would take a maximum of one day to shut down as it had to delete all the important files and operations data from its system first. On October 5, before the computer system finished deleting the files and shutting down, one unit had woken up and its footage had managed to be recorded by the computer system.

This unit's designation: **NS-L-713.** It was EVE's Wall-E.

EVE, out of curiosity, accessed the file to see what happened to Wall-E after the deactivation. She was oblivious to the present Wall-E who shifted uncomfortably and turned away from the screen.

The footage began to play. In the video, Wall-E woke up to find the environment dead and devoid of life: biological and mechanical. All around him, he saw his brethren: all of them dead.

Then, as she continued to watch, EVE suddenly felt pain- this pain was a new kind of pain that Wall-E knew all too well: Loneliness. Just watching the video suddenly allowed her to sympathize with her beloved.

She then felt his hand on her fin and his voice spoke to her, "Eevah." From the tone of his voice, EVE could tell that Wall-E did not want to remember that horrible day. It was very traumatic for him.

EVE immediately stopped the video. She could not bear to watch both the Wall-E in the footage and the Wall-E holding her fin with his trembling hand. She wrapped his hand with both of hers and apologized to him, reassuring him that he will never be alone ever again.

But, they had work to do. Now that they found out that one Wall-G unit had managed to escape the cleaner bots' killing spree, EVE tried to track the unit down. Luckily the footage was clear enough for EVE to read the Wall-G's designation number.

Then she opened the computer's "Status" program.

**PLEASE ENTER UNIT DESIGNATION:**

EVE inputted the Wall-G's designation.

**RETRIEVING DATA...**

A series of windows with text appeared on the screen, showing EVE everything she needed to know about that particular Wall-G unit. However, everything that she needed to know was not what she wanted to know.

The Wall-G was destroyed in a sandstorm on October 2, 2108. Its signal was lost and the system was unable to track the unit's location. EVE let out a frustrated sigh, but that did not deter her from continuing her search. She immediately abandoned the Wall-G and continued looking for the blueprints.

If they could not find the blueprints, then she had to focus on looking for the power assembly and the parts that Wall-E desperately need. As long as they could get Wall-E his much needed parts, even for now, that could buy them time to continue their search for the blueprints. Obviously, EVE could not access information regarding the location of the spare parts that were transported outside the base as those files were already deleted. So EVE settled on searching the thousands of video feeds from every single unit to figure that out.

Wall-E knew that this will take a while- a veery long while.

But watching EVE hard at work, no longer fulfilling her directive but her commitment, made Wall-E very happy. He did not want to disturb her so he cubed up and rested (which also helped conserve his irreplaceable power supply).

Their stalker watched them. It could not make its move as the two robots were close to each other and any attempt to approach would be met by the white probe's weapon. Soon, it will be able to make its move. All it had to do was wait.

Another hour of browsing the videos, EVE found her lucky break. On one video feed from a wall-e unit, EVE saw a bunch of power assemblies being placed neatly inside a sturdy metallic box. She browsed the other videos, tracking down all the video feeds that captured this metallic box.

Eventually she tracked the box as it was being loaded onto an Air Skimmer. She remembered the Skimmer's designation: **GS-A41** and tracked it down on the other video feeds.

Then she found **GS-A41** appear once again on a Land Crawler's video feed. In the feed, the Skimmer was caught in a sandstorm and something from the storm must have hit the aircraft's engine as she saw a trail of fire from it. Then the Skimmer continued flying but noticeably losing altitude until it disappeared over the horizon.

Lucky for EVE, the Land Crawler that caught the video feed was designated as **MX-L38**- the Land Crawler which contained Clark base's coordinates. Things were made easier for her when the feed was caught at the time the Land Crawler was disabled. Judging by what she saw, the Air Skimmer must have crashed East from the Land Crawler's position. Since the power assemblies were placed in a shock-proof metallic box, then they would have survived the crash. All they had to do was return to the Land Crawler and travel East from there, keeping a lookout for the crashed aircraft.

EVE excitedly woke Wall-E up and showed him the feed. Their mission in the base was done.

Wall-E took EVE's hand as they watched the video and analyzed it. Everything was going to be fine.

Suddenly, the both of them heard a loud crack and saw something bright and long pass in between their heads. The object hit the screen they were watching, causing it to shatter. It took EVE half a second to realize that the object was a bullet.

It took Wall-E two seconds to realize that they were not alone.

Maybe things wouldn't be fine just yet.

Both of them turned around and gasped. There, standing on the open doors, was a cleaner bot, its weapon aimed at them. Before the robot could fire another shot, it was blown apart by EVE's laser cannon. Two more Cleaner bots appeared in its place.

EVE's activation of the computer systems must have awakened the cleaner bots that lay dormant, waiting for intruders who would reactivate Operation: Cleanup without proper authorization. EVE and Wall-E dove for cover just as the grey robots opened fire. EVE jumped out of the table she took cover in and flew up to the ceiling.

Her quick movement did not give the cleaner bots enough time to react and before they could train their weapons at EVE, they joined their comrade on the floor. EVE then grabbed Wall-E and flew out of the room.

As they passed the corridors, they noticed more cleaner bots waking up from centuries of dormancy. Those that were already awake opened fire at them.

For Wall-E and EVE, what they were witnessing and the situation they were in was illogical.

Then again, when has 'life' ever been 'logical'?

* * *

**A/N**

**Not much fluff in this and the coming chapters as I have to progress the story into a different genre now. Sorry to those who want more fluff as you'll have to wait after the coming chapters are done.**


	15. Chapter 15

A small part of the wall next to them burst as a missed bullet hit it. As EVE navigated the rooms and corridors, more and more of the Cleaner Bots awoke and followed as fast as their eight century treads could take them. EVE tried as hard as she could to avoid the bullets that whizzed by them.

Luckily the bots' guns were semi-automatic and not full auto, making dodging easier. That also meant that the bullets being shot at them were bigger and had faster velocities. EVE's frame was not strong enough to withstand this kind of projectile as she was mainly built for speed, agility and aerodynamic flexibility. As a result, her body was lightweight and the material was thin.

They crashed through the glass of one room, next to the locked door, and crossed it to the other side. Unfortunately, this room had three cleaner bots waiting in ambush. EVE did not mind them as long as they could get through the other door quickly. Their goal was to reach the garage doors where they had entered as it was the closest and fastest route out of the base.

As soon as they reached the door, another cleaner bot appeared on the doorway, blocking their passage. This forced EVE to immediately bank to the right. It was very difficult to do that move at high speed while carrying Wall-E at the same time.

Wall-E let out a wail as they barely managed to evade it. In the process, Wall-E's left treads hit the center eye of the cleaner bot, cracking it and leaving a nasty tread mark across its face. This stunned the bot and it began shooting wildly, hitting two of its comrades in the room and disabling them.

EVE flew them back through the broken glass and out of the room, checking the base schematic she had downloaded in her system for any alternate route as they continued dodging bullets. Eventually, they arrived at a large circular room with lots of metallic tables and chairs. On one side of the room was a large closet that housed firearms. The closet was open and the weapons were gone, signifying that the humans must have scrambled for the weapons to protect themselves. Another smaller control panel was placed on one side of the room. Wall-E concluded that the room must be the security room.

In the room, more cleaner bots burst through the other door and began raining the two with gunfire. The shots eventually hit a rusty vent that, causing it to fall just as EVE and Wall-E passed. EVE banked left to avoid the falling hunk and crashed onto a metal post that ran alongside the wall. The force of the impact jumbled EVE's systems and forced her and Wall-E to crash.

Immediately, Wall-E cubed up to protect himself from the fall. Once he felt alright, he slowly peeked out of the cube in search of EVE. He found her by the corner of the room, lifeless. The cleaner bots were closing in on her.

"Eevah!" Wall-E rushed to her side, his loud baritone voice catching the attention of some of the cleaner bots. The bots opened fire at Wall-E as he desperately ducked to avoid a bullet that was about to hit his head. He then put himself in between the lifeless EVE and the cleaner bots and tried to make himself as big a target as possible.

Unlike EVE, Wall-E's frame was heavy-duty, built to withstand the harsh conditions of Earth as he worked on trash. These bullets would not damage him any more than dents. He faced EVE and stood his ground, successfully deflecting the bullets that were meant for EVE. "Eevah!" But EVE's screen was still blank. "Eevah!" he tried shaking her awake with one hand, still no response.

Wall-E continued to stand his ground. He will wait as long as he had to.

It took a few seconds for EVE's system to get its bearings straight and restart. When she did wake up, she saw Wall-E's face in front of her, watching and waiting, as bullets pounded on his back.

"Eevah!"

"Wall-E!"

A bullet ricocheted off Wall-E's back and hit a cleaner bot's eye, destroying its systems and shutting it down. EVE started to get up and in the process, saw a cleaner bot sneak up behind Wall-E. The bot took aim and fired, the bullet travelling towards Wall-E's exposed head. Although Wall-E's body was tough, his head wasn't.

Immediately, EVE pushed Wall-E's head down to his body, took aim, and fired. Her laser hit the bullet, melted it, and continued travelling towards the bot. The grey machine was consequently turned into scrap metal. What EVE did however, exposed her too much and another bullet hit her head.

The projectile simply scraped through the side of her head but it managed to dig in pretty deep. Wall-E watched in horror as her screen turned blank and she slumped back down on the floor. "Eevah!" Wall-E wanted to fight back the cleaner bots but he couldn't. If he left, they would get clear shots at EVE. Wall-E wanted to leave and fight back but somehow, his commitment told him to just stay put.

Besides, they had perfect cover. EVE lay in a corner, which protected three of her sides, and Wall-E's extremely durable frame covered the front. Still, EVE had to wake up. "Eevaah!" he called her again.

This time she responded. Her eyes flickered to life as she moaned.

"Eevah!" EVE's systems kick back to life.

The bullet thankfully did not damage anything but it did manage to knock out EVE's still recovering system which caused a temporary system black-out. Now that she was fine, she grabbed Wall-E and tossed him behind the nearest metallic table. Then she sprint-hovered towards the next. The tables provided good cover as its front part was covered in metal, shielding her from the bullets.

She took the time to look over the other table where she had just tossed Wall-E. Thankfully, nothing bad seemed to have happened to him from all those bullets that beat him up. He was still up and about, taking cover. EVE began to fight back, downing three more cleaner bots.

However, more of the bots were coming in from the open metallic doors. The doors were electrical and can be closed by the control panel on the wall. Wall-E had to reach the control. He looked back at EVE and saw her holding her ground. Most of the bots in the room had focused their attention to EVE as her weapon was a much bigger threat to them.

Using that opportunity, Wall-E sped to the controls and started pressing buttons, hoping that one of them would close the metallic doors. Behind him, he heard another explosion followed by a short-circuiting sound. EVE had downed another cleaner bot.

Eventually, one of the buttons he pressed triggered a deafening alarm. The ongoing battle in the room stopped as the siren rang through their robotic ears. EVE and the cleaner bots stopped shooting at each other and tried to comprehend what was going on.

Wall-E watched the metallic doors, waiting for them to close and putting an end to the bots' reinforcements.

However, something better happened: A computerized female voice began to speak, "Defensive Systems Activated." Then, individual tiles from the ceiling began to open up and from the holes, gun turrets lowered and aimed their barrels at the cleaner bots.

Wall-E let out a triumphant beep. He saw the relief in EVE's eyes at what had just happened. Unfortunately their victory was short-lived as Wall-E forgot one thing...

The cleaner bots were built by BnL to bypass the base's Defense system. The bots contained ID tags that the defenses would identify as friendly. Wall-E was a unit that was built inside this base and so he too, was equipped with the same ID tag.

EVE however, was built more recently on the Axiom and her creators had no knowledge of this base. As such, she was not equipped with the tag.

"Uh-oh" was all Wall-E said as all the defense guns now registered EVE as a hostile target.

"Wall-E!" EVE yelled in irritation as the guns began to open fire at her. With the guns backing them up, the cleaner bots resumed their assault on EVE's position. Earlier, EVE just had to hide behind the metallic desk for cover from the cleaner bots. Now she had to hide under the desk to save herself from both the cleaner bots and the ceiling-mounted defense guns.

"Waah!" Wall-E returned to the console and pushed more buttons, hoping to deactivate the guns. Instead, he made things worse as one of the buttons he pressed closed all the doors of the room, trapping them in.

"Wall-E!!!" EVE's electronic voice was heard above all the gunfire. When her cover was obliterated by the hail of gunfire, she sprinted as fast as she could under the next table.

By now, the cleaner bots noticed Wall-E's tampering and one moved in to engage him. The bot grabbed Wall-E's neck with one claw, causing Wall-E to yell in suprise. The bot then aimed its weapon on his head.

Wall-E activated his laser cutter and fired, luckily hitting the connection cable on the attacker's weapon. With the cable cut, the bot could not use the weapon. Instead, it pulled its weapon back and slugged Wall-E's head with it. Wall-E's left binocular eye shattered and broke off, the force of the impact disconnected the cables and completely removed the eye.

Not that it mattered so much to Wall-E as he was already blind on that eye to begin with. Still, he managed to catch the eye as it flew in mid-air and reconnect it before returning his attention to his opponent. Wall-E grabbed the weapon with both of his hands, preventing the bot from pulling it back and slugging him again. He then activated his laser and aimed it at the bot's eye.

The laser gravely damaged the bot's sensor system, giving Wall-E enough time to pull the weapon off the bot's hand and use it himself. The remaining three bots stopped and watched as the yellow trash compactor destroyed their comrade. Wall-E held the gun with both his hands and aimed it at the three bots. The gun was still connected by a few more cables to the fallen cleaner bot's body but Wall-E had managed to assume full control of the weapon.

The three bots fired at Wall-E but their bullets did not do a thing to Wall-E's reinforced armor. When Wall-E fired back with the weapon he held, the three cleaner bots did not stand a chance.

"Whoa!"

The security system saw what Wall-E did to the cleaner bots and identified him as a rogue robot. Now, some of the defense guns began to divert their attention away from EVE and started shooting him. EVE took the opportunity to briefly come out from under the table and blast the guns nearest her position. Then she grabbed Wall-E as he attempted to dodge the bullets.

EVE then blasted a hole on the wall next to the closed doors that they had to pass through. She flew them through the hole and out of the room. As they passed through the corridors, cleaner bots that spotted them pursued.

Renewed gunfire and bullets that zipped from behind them switched EVE to dodging mode.

This time, she found it difficult to dodge the bullets. She did a quick check of her systems to see if there was something wrong. Everything was working fine.

Then, she realized that Wall-E had become heavier than when she last carried him.

Stealing a quick glance at him, she saw that Wall-E was still carrying the weapon he retrieved from the cleaner bot.

And the weapon was still attached by cables to the original owner's lifeless remains.

"Wall-E!" again, with that irritated tone.

"Eevah?" clueless as ever.

"Heavy!"

"Oh." Wall-E dropped the weapon. The weapon fell to the ground, the attached bot remains grinding to a halt alongside it. The pursuing cleaner bots were unable to react in time as they were focused on gunning down their flying target. The first bot tripped on the remains that were sprawled on the ground, then the following two bots tripped on the first one.

This gave Wall-E and EVE time to breathe from their hectic life-or-death struggle. EVE was a bit irked at Wall-E for the times he almost got them killed. But then, he had found ways to recover from that and save her many times. She shook her head, either out of relief, or sheer confusion and disbelief.

EVE checked the status of her power supply: It was still nearly full. She returned her gaze to the precious cargo she was carrying and was extremely grateful for having him by her side to watch over her when she's out.

Now they had to get to the hangar area- the place they entered the base in and get out through there. 


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N**

**Finally! Another chapter up! Thank you to those who pointed out my mistakes. I found it weird but it seemed right when I reread the last chapter. It wasn't until you guys told me. Hopefully I wouldn't commit the same mistakes in this chapter.**

**Then again, I can always count on you guys to help me out. :-)**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

The hangar bustled with activity where as a day before, it was deathly silent. Normally, this would mean a good thing, but the activity that prevailed in the hangar was caused by patrolling cleaner bots and swivelling defense guns.

The gaping hole that EVE had shot on the garage door was covered by one of the grey machines. Now this was bad. Wall-E could not really see for himself as EVE held him back with one fin while she peered over the side of the door into the hangar.

"Eevah?"

EVE lifted one finger up in reply, which told him to be silent. Maybe if she could time it right, wait for the bots to be preoccupied with something else and the guns pointing somewhere else, she could blast another hole on the door and fly them both out of this deathtrap before the bots and guns had time to react.

Finally, she found the perfect opportunity. EVE readied her laser cannon and was about to expose herself to get a clear shot at the door when she felt herself being jerked back, her fin held firmly in place by both of Wall-E's hands. "Wall-E!"

Wall-E shook his head and pointed in the hangar. There EVE saw two cleaner bots guarding the door they were in, just waiting for them. If she had exposed herself to take the shot, the bots would have blasted her. Once again, she was glad she had him.

Now they had to find another way through the hangar. EVE once again peered inside to check for any alternatives and then immediately abandoned her plans. The bots must have heard her as they were now approaching their spot to investigate. Quickly, she took Wall-E and left the area.

Exiting through the hangar was now out of the question. EVE brought up the schematics and looked for another exit. Judging by the looks of it, the other alternative route would be heading up to ground level and exiting the long way. This proved harder for EVE as they constantly had to avoid cleaner bot patrols, causing them to always resort to alternative routes.

The corporation must have been very serious to send an entire army of cleaner bots to eradicate every single human being in the base.

EVE had just diverted away from a room that was also crawling with cleaner bots and was now travelling through another hallway. For the nth time she brought up the base schematics and crossed out the room before creating a new navigation point. She was too preoccupied with the map that she barely had time to react when her collision warning beep activated.

"Eevah!" when they rounded a corner, they collided with a cleaner bot. Since it was Wall-E and his durable frame that took the brunt of the impact, he had somewhat turned into a wrecking ball, destroying the bot. Another bot further ahead heard the collision and turned around, spotting EVE and Wall-E.

In reaction, EVE dropped Wall-E and blasted the bot, hoping that it would not alert anymore of its comrades.

That did not work as the explosion alerted more of the grey machines that began to enter from the door on the far side of the hallway. EVE blasted the first two that came through the door in order to turn their wreckage into a makeshift barrier, then she picked up Wall-E and backtracked. She stopped when she spotted more cleaner bots approaching from the way they came.

She went back to the door where she blasted the two bots. Much to her dismay, cleaner bots had already moved their two dead comrades aside and were approaching. They were trapped. EVE blasted a hole on the wall to their left, revealed a room, and went through it. Then with Wall-E's help, they covered the hole with various large items they could find in the room: drawers, tables, computers, cabinets, and chairs while EVE searched her map for a way out. The room was rectangular, with three doors, one door on each wall. Two of the doors were not the way to go as one would lead to a dead end and the other would lead to more enemies. The third one was the most logical way to go but EVE had not yet figured out where it would lead. The fourth wall had no door but instead, had a newly blasted hole on it. And now, cleaner bots were trying to scramble through the hole.

"Eevah!" Wall-E caught her attention and pointed at the hole. The bots were moving the items aside and coming through. EVE trained her laser cannon at the hole and when one of the bots' body came into view, she blasted it. Immediately, another one took its place and she blew that one up too. Another one tried to shoot through the hole, hoping to hit either EVE or Wall-E.

Then Wall-E noticed the third door- the one behind EVE which they were planning to escape to- began to open, and through that opening, Wall-E saw what seemed to be a cleaner bot trying to enter. Immediately, Wall-E rolled as fast as his treads could take him and shut the door. He struggled to hold it shut as the robot on the other side struggled to open it.

The cleaner bot found it quite difficult to battle against Wall-E so it just stopped and settled on shooting through the door. Wall-E yelled in fear as bullets ripped through the door and passed over his head. Some of the bullets continued on to the hole EVE made and hit a cleaner bot on the other side. The bot didn't sustain much damage from the bullet but it was still destroyed by EVE. Other bullets were stopped by Wall-E's metal frame.

Another bullet scraped EVE's cannon arm and that caught her attention. She turned around to where the source of the shots were coming from and saw Wall-E desperately holding a mangled door close. "Wall-E!"

"Eevah!"

"Down!"

Wall-E did as she had instructed and ducked his head in his body. EVE fired at the mangled door, her laser ripping through it and destroying the cleaner bot on the other side.

Then the second door, the one on EVE's right, began to open, revealing two more cleaner bots. EVE blasted them both before blasting another bot that had managed to climb through the hole. Another bot appeared once again on the third door, attempting to strike EVE from behind. Wall-E lay in wait and ambushed the machine before it could shoot. He grabbed the grey robot by the hands and cut its eye out with his laser.

More of the grey robots came.

They were trapped.

As Wall-E pushed off the bot he had just deactivated, he noticed another cleaner bot had entered from the first door- the door that had a room with a dead-end. EVE did not notice the bot's presence as she was too preoccupied fighting the bots that were coming through the hole and the second door. The newcomer aimed at EVE.

"Eevaah!" Wall-E rushed as fast as he could towards the bot, hoping that his baritone voice would catch EVE's attention.

It was still too late, as the bot had fired two shots, just as Wall-E came in close contact with it. He watched in horror as EVE's eyes grew wide and she tried dodging the shots. The first bullet missed while the second, Wall-E could've sworn, went right through the left side of her body. The force had thrown her back to the wall, creating a crack as her body impacted it.

"Eevaah!" Wall-E crashed into the attacker with such force and momentum, that part of the bot's body's shell shattered. Wall-E continued moving forward, holding on to the bot and pushing it back towards the room it came from. He crashed the bot through the wall beside the door, destroyed the wall and entered the room with the dead-end. The cleaner bot struggled from Wall-E's strength, trying its best to slug his head as Wall-E pushed him all the way to the end of the room.

As it turned out, from Wall-E and EVE's never ending travel through the base in search of the exit, they actually made it near the top part of the dam. And the room that was a dead end (according to the base schematics) was actually a viewing room. Wall-E's blind rage pushed both him and the cleaner bot through the glass and over the edge of the dam, to a drop that was hundreds of meters high.

Wall-E did not know what had gotten into him. He never got angry- he never felt some sort of rage. Maybe when he developed his personality, he never knew any other emotions other than the positive ones, with loneliness being the only exception. Nobody had told him or taught him the rest.

Then, meeting EVE and loving her had opened different kinds of emotions he never knew he even possessed. Emotions like: frustration, disappointment and anger. He did not like rage at all, but he couldn't help as his heart told him that somehow, rage was okay. This was the second time that EVE got shot and Wall-E feared for her life.

Fearing for her life felt worse than fearing for his own. When her life was in jeopardy, it crossed and affected so many other emotions, like happiness, sadness, love, commitment...

Everything he learned for the past eight centuries, everything that mattered so much, everything... Would be gone in an instant, simply because he was about to lose her.

Maybe what he felt was not rage, but frustration. Seeing EVE get shot twice dealt a significant blow to his heart, as if emphasizing the point that he was really useless- that he could not fulfill his commitment. It was frustration, that had turned into rage- rage that was directed at this cleaner bot he wanted to desperately rip to shreds. Wall-E had already accepted the fact that he was old, dying, and useless, but this robot emphasized that point by slapping it into his face for the world to see, by shooting EVE.

He then realized that they were falling. He wasn't sure how that happened, but he knew that they were. The cleaner bot was going to die and it knew that fact. Wall-E knew that he too, was going to die, only this time, the wait was shortened. The cleaner bot still fought back and managed to hit Wall-E in the head and destroy his laser cutter.

Wall-E let go of the bot.

The cleaner bot fell more rapidly than him and in deperation, fired its gun at Wall-E, hoping to see him die first before it did. The bullets simply bounced off Wall-E's frame but the bot still continued to fire.

Then, one of the bullets hit Wall-E's energy display. The display had no metal sheet behind it, so the bullet shattered his display and went right through it, penetrating Wall-E's internal circuitry, and moving on to enter his power core where it laid to rest.

Wall-E felt the sudden drop of his energy. Then he knew...

But strangely, he was no longer afraid of death or anything close to that. Suddenly, hope didn't seem too important anymore. Suddenly, all the worries, all the trouble he experienced during their crazy adventure did not matter to him so much anymore. Wall-E then spread his arms and enjoyed the feel of the wind against his body- the sound of the wind as he cut through it, giving him passage. Like a king.

Then he heard a familiar voice right behind him: a voice that he loved so much as it called out his name. Then he felt tender, white fins wrap around from behind, slowing his freefall and saving him.

He looked up at his angel, her graceful, beautiful body catching him as he fell, loving him, caring for him.

Survival was no longer relevant to him. The parts and the blueprints did not seem important anymore. He no longer cared about anything that concerned saving his existence. What he really cared about now, was saving his life.

And through death, Wall-E understood the real meaning of life. Life was not really so much about hope, about surviving, about pain, frustration, joy, happiness, fake, overtime, commitment... Before, Wall-E's commitment was all about not letting EVE experience pain. Now he learned. EVE had taught him something: the amount of pain one experienced, was equal to the amount of love he experienced. Yes, he realized, he had hurt EVE a lot. He had caused her so much pain, but that was simply because he loved her so much and because she loved him just as much. He had made the wrong commitment all along. Now he knew what commitment truly is.

Life was not so much about trivial emotions and feelings, and materialistic things...

Wall-E spread his arms even further than he could and closed his eyes, enjoying the freedom, as his angel flew them both out of the base and into safety.

No...

Life- living... Was not about surviving- it was all about heaven.

* * *

EVE set them both down on the ground, away from the vicinity of the base.

"Eevah?" Wall-E said, rather weakly this time. He lifted his arm up and brushed it across her body, feeling for some sort of damage from the bullet. EVE simply shook her head and took his hand. Apparently the bullet had gone in between her left fin and her body, and simply chipped off a small part of her frame. There was no serious damage to her. She was fine.

Wall-E sighed in relief and let his hand drop.

Then it was EVE's turn to check him. Wall-E was pretty banged up, but what worried her was his shattered display. "Wall-E..." she breathed as she ran her fingers across the broken panel.

Wall-E simply chuckled and gently ran his hand along her fin. Then he heard EVE gasp and immediately pull back. She inspected her fingers and there, smeared across it, was a viscous, yellow substance. Wall-E then placed a hand on his display and raised it up to his face. The yellow liquid glistened on his hand, "whoa." he simply said, his tone was that of when he stumbled across an interesting find. "Oooh."

"Wall-E!" EVE's tone was mixed with worry, fear and disappointment as she was not very pleased with his reaction. She scanned the liquid and waited for the result. Once she figured out what it was, only one word escaped her: "No..."

But Wall-E did not seem to mind at all and had instead, focused his attention to a weird-shaped rock.

"Wall-E!" this time, EVE's forceful and angry voice got his attention. Her eyes could only express a mix of worry, sorrow, helplesness, hopelesness, and pain.

Pain.

Then Wall-E smiled. EVE's love for him kicked in and she began to pick him up. But Wall-E intercepted her fins and held them. "Wall-E!"

"No, Eevah..." Wall-E pointed over to the horizon, where the sun was setting. "Look."

EVE did not understand. She had to get him a new power assembly quickly, before he was lost to her. EVE shrugged off his nonsense and tried to pick him up again. Once again, Wall-E stopped her.

"Wall-E!" But he just watched the sunset.

"Bee-bee-aah-uuu-tee-ful."

Now EVE finally took a moment to look at it. Her mind was still running in circles, unable to comprehend it. Okay, she was done looking at it. Now she had to pick up Wall-E and take him to replace his power assembly. It did not calm her one bit when the yellow chemical that was oozing out of his display was dripping on the ground. "Wall-E," she spoke, as she reached out for him again.

This time, it only took Wall-E a gentle hold on EVE's hand to stop her from picking him up. "Eevah." he said as calmly as he could.

EVE was now forced to really look at the sunset. Somehow, it suddenly had a new light to it. Yeah, Wall-E was right. It was, "Beautiful".

"Yees." Wall-E sighed.

The sunset suddenly reminded EVE of something- something that was beautiful; something that was slowly fading, sinking down... She couldn't help but feel a wave of emotions overcome her. Everything welled up inside her, like a volcano about to explode. Then inevitably, it burst- in the form of her sobs. If only she had tears, she wanted to let them out as well. She inched closer to Wall-E and gripped his hand tighter. Then she leaned her head on him and felt his head on hers.

As she sobbed, she could feel all the emotions escape from her, one by one: sorrow, helplessness, hopelessness...

Pain. Lots of it.

And they held each other's hands all throughout the sunset.

"Eevah?"

It took a while for EVE to register that Wall-E called her. Her sobbing had stopped already, and she was staring blankly at the ground as the traces of the sunset's orange glow slowly disappeared- replaced by the brilliant radiance of the moon and the stars. EVE looked up at her beloved's face.

Then he spoke again, weakly, "D-daaancce."

EVE stood straight, "No! Go. Now!" they had already wasted so much time with that stupid sunset. They had to get his power assembly. "Commitment." EVE told him.

Wall-E's face fell and sadly shook his head, "No."

"Wall-E!" EVE snapped.

But Wall-E didn't listen. He lifted his arm and held his hand out to her, then with the other hand, he pressed the play button on his tape recorder, "C-co-meet-ment." He was already having a hard time talking and his arm trembled as he struggled to keep it up. Then "It Only Takes A Moment" began to play.

Somehow, deep inside, something told EVE that taking his hand and dancing was the right thing to do and not to continue with their journey. EVE just couldn't believe it. Wall-E was already in the process of permanently shutting down and still he wanted to dance? "No."

Wall-E's arm slumped lifelessly to the ground and his eyes expressed agony, "Eevah..."

There was silence between the two. Only the song played.

"Wall-E..." EVE suddenly felt a huge load fall on her shoulders, burdening them. As much as she did not want to, she followed what her heart was telling her to do: she stretched out her fin and offered her hand to him, "Wall-E..."

He tiredly looked up.

"Take. My. Hand." EVE spoke.

Then Wall-E's face glowed a positive radiance, "No, Eevah..."

EVE was surprised at what he said.

Wall-E lifted his arm once again, fighting the urge to just slump down and rest. Then he spoke, "H-hoold... Mmmyy... H-haand..."

EVE approached him and took his hand, "Wall-E..." She closed her eyes, and fought the urge to cry, "Don't. Let. Go." after a slight pause, she continued, "Hold. Mine."

Then, with their song playing on the background, the two lovers gently rose off the ground. The sky and the ground parted and set the stage; the moon served as their spotlight; the stars, their audience, and the wind adored the king and queen, as their dance held no bounds.


	17. Chapter 17

EVE did not know how long they danced in the sky, but one thing was for sure: this was probably the best dance they ever had. Both of them did not want it to end at all, and so they continued to dance.

Their song continued to play, the stage never moved, the moon still had them on spotlight, the stars never got tired watching them, and they continued to feel like the king and queen.

EVE did another loop that she knew Wall-E liked so much, and her eyes slowly reflected peace, tranquility and love. "Wall-E?", EVE asked to make sure he was still enjoying.

Her beloved did not respond.

"Wall-E?"

No response.

"Wall-E!" This time, she shook him a little.

"Eevah?"

EVE sighed, "Wall-E. Please." Then she held him closer, stopping their dance, "Don't..."

"Eevah."

"Wall-E?"

"D-doon't.. Ssstoop."

"But, Wall-E..." EVE wanted to stop already and continue their journey, but their song wasn't finished yet. Wall-E did not like to stop dancing when the song wasn't finished yet. After putting some thought into it, EVE nodded. And they continued dancing.

Come to think of it, if only the sky, the ground, the moon, the stars, and the wind could hear them....

She wished that they will never stop dancing at all.

* * *

On a hill, one more machine had managed to escape the base: EVE and Wall-E's stalker. The robot stood atop the hill, the moonlight faintly illuminating its metal frame. It watched the two lovers as they danced in the sky and waited.

Once they left the area, it followed.

* * *

EVE was not so sure how long, or how quickly the song ended. All she knew was that she had continued dancing long after that, completely unaware. But she could've sworn the song ended quickly.

A little too quickly. In fact, she believed that the song wasn't supposed to end yet. She believed that she was too caught up in the moment that maybe things ended faster than when they usually do. Time flies, they used to say.

Time flies...

EVE's eyes grew in realization. "Wall-E?" she begged, hoping that he would answer her call. She received no response.

"Wall-E?" she asked again. There was still no response from him.

EVE shook him, "Wall-E!" again, he did not respond. EVE looked down at her beloved. It may be dark, but the moon gave her ample light to make out the shapes on Wall-E's body. Then she noticed the tape recorder: the play button was still pressed. A sudden wave of fear and disbelief began to overcome her, "No! No! No!"

EVE brought up the coordinates to the Land Crawler and immediately headed there. "Waaalleee!" EVE shook him harder this time, her heart beginning to tighten. "Wake up" EVE kicked her thrusters in high gear. She looked back down at him, hoping that he would wake up- that he would move.

Instead, the force of the wind slightly moved his limp arms. EVE saw this and shook him again, "Wallee!" hoping that it really was him, and not the stupid wind. But the wind was still cruel to her.

"Don't.. Do.. This..!"

EVE moaned as she tore through the sky. Her sobs were threatening to break out again. She checked her navigation computer and groaned as she still had less than two hundred miles to go. And that was just to reach the Land Crawler. After that, she did not know how far she would have to travel in order to find that Air Skimmer that carried the power assemblies.

"Wall-E. Please!" Again she shook him.

Finally, she heard a faint moan from him. "Wall-E!" EVE hoped it wasn't the wind making that sound.

But she heard him moan again.

"Wall-E!" She only received a moan in reply. His power was way too low that he could no longer form any coherent words- not that he spoke coherently- but at least coherent enough for EVE to understand. Any attempt at speaking simply came out as moans.

He could not even say her name, as much as he tried. It hurt them both.

Still, EVE held on.

Even if Wall-E began to slip away, she held on.

She still believed that he could be saved and she will save him.

Once again, Wall-E fell silent. EVE shook him again to wake him up, "Don't.. Let.. Go!" Wall-E moaned. His moans were getting weaker and weaker as his life force slowly ebbed away. Still EVE did not accept that. "No!" Soon, the sobs came.

EVE once again brought up her navigation computer. She had over ninety miles left to go. She groaned in frustration. Why couldn't she go much faster? Why did that stupid Land Crawler had to break down far away?

Once again, Wall-E stopped responding. "Waalleee!" EVE sobbed, shaking him more vigorously this time.

She hated how life played out. The best things happen only when they are about to end. Life gave her the best dance ever, only to take away the best thing ever. If only he had listened to her, and stopped that sunset nonsense and that stupid dance, maybe they would be near the Air Skimmer by now. Maybe they had already repaired him by now.

EVE was so scared and so worried, her mind began to lose all sense of coherent thinking. Now she began to blame everything: She blamed herself for being too slow, she blamed Wall-E for his stupid personality and way of thinking, she blamed Hello Dolly for teaching them how to dance, she blamed the cleaner bots for hindering and shooting them, she blamed Engineer Matthews for hiding those stupid blueprints, she blamed the Clark base for not giving them the spare parts Wall-E needed, she blamed Ted for being such a know-it-all yet did not know how to fix Wall-E, she blamed Captain Gregory for not checking the Axiom's database sooner, she blamed the Axiom for creating her at a time when Wall-E was about to be non-existent, she blamed BnL for the shutdown, she blamed the humans, the robots, the ground, the sky, the moon, the stars, she blamed the wind, and then she blamed love.

She blamed love because love connected all the different things she had blamed, and put them together to make them all work out...

EVE checked her navigation computer once again... Thirty miles left. "Almost. There." They were half-way through. All Wall-E should do was simply hold on for a while longer...

Which he didn't. "Waallee!" EVE shook him again, "Wake. Up!"

Wall-E did not moan anymore, "Oh, no..." There was no way Wall-E would make it to the Skimmer now. It was hard, but EVE had to learn to accept that.

It was the end of the line for him.

"Wall-E!" EVE cried, her speed slowed down as her hope faded. "No.." but she did not want to accept it. She sped up once again, resolving on stopping by the Crawler. There she will try to fix him as she had done a hundred and fifty years ago. She clutched him tighter, wishing that any other powerful deity would hear her plea and bring him back.

But no one did. No one and nothing heard her- not even Wall-E, not even her own ears.

Once they made it to the Crawler, EVE lay his lifeless body on the metal floor. She fumbled for the light switch and turned the lights on, before she started ravaging the eight wall-e's for their power assemblies. As they had checked two days ago, the wall-e's power assemblies were completely destroyed. EVE hoped that after those two days, they would somehow be fixed again. That somehow, the wall-e's would feel bad for her and her Wall-E and somehow have their power assemblies ready for them.

But alas, it was just a dream. EVE was simply desperate. She slowly hovered back to her beloved's remains and watched him. The yellow liquid that kept oozing out of his power display had stopped, completely drained out of him.

EVE brushed her hands gently on his body, on his head, and then on his hands, which she gripped.

And, like one hundred fifty years ago, did not grip back. She hummed their song to him, and hummed it as perfectly as she could, as her voice was wracked with sobs. Then she pressed her face up against his and kissed him, hoping that what she did one hundred and fifty years ago would again happen tonight.

It didn't. Wall-E was gone forever.

EVE was still in denial, she was in disbelief of what was happening. After everything they had gone through, he just... Left her like this. She could not and would not accept it. She kissed him again, hoping that he would wake up.

He didn't.

She kissed him again. He didn't wake up.

She gripped both of his lifeless hands with her own and kissed him again, hoping that the third one would be the charm. Again, he didn't wake up. Now she began to hate herself for allowing him to have that dance with her earlier that night. She hated herself for giving in and not being firm...

Then again, would that have made a difference? Eventually, she'd still find herself in this situation.

Now she hated Wall-E. She hated him for leaving her, when he said that he would not forget. He said he would not forget! She hated him for giving her so much pain!

But she knew she couldn't hate him. If she hated him, then all the more fate would not bring him back. She buried that thought in her mind and silently apologized. Oh how she wished he would come back to her!

EVE tried once again to kiss him, hoping that this kiss would be the one- the kiss of life... The spark that would once again bring life to his mechanical eyes... For the last time, EVE closed her eyes and, thinking about this as being the kiss of life, she kissed him.

She felt the spark pass through her body and into him. As usual, nothing happened.

However, she felt something wake up inside her. It was like a realization when she learned something new. She did not know what this feeling was or why she felt it but one thing's for sure. This had given her an idea- an idea that was so crazy, it might work.

EVE was desperate and she would do anything to get her Wall-E back to her.

She gently opened Wall-E's front panel, careful not to damage any more circuitries that had been corroded by the spilt chemical. EVE fumbled through the mess of wires and chemical-coated circuit boards until she finally located his heart.

EVE then disconnected the wires from the heart, and carefully took it out. She held it like a newborn human baby as she examined that one object that had kept her beloved alive for eight centuries and became the source of their misery. She disassembled the part and opened it as she wanted to see that tiny projectile that took him away from her.

Circuits and wires were cut and burnt as the bullet lodged itself inside the part and the yellow chemical burned through the cut wires. EVE could only shake her head, denying what she was seeing/doing. Sure, she had dismantled other wall-e's before, but this one was her Wall-E.

And she was dismantling him the same way she dismantled his brothers. It was wrong, but she just knew she had to do this. Her conscience told her it was wrong, but her heart longed for the answers- the proof- the evidence, that would prove to her that Wall-E had indeed, "forgotten how to breathe".

EVE reached inside and retrieved the foreign object from the mass of damaged circuitry and let it lay in the palm of her hand. It was surprising how a small object had, in only a couple of minutes, ended an eight-century old life. The bullet was crumpled and rusty, severely damaged from the entry and the chemical's corrosion. It was proof that Wall-E fought it.. He fought it.

Then EVE gripped the bullet tightly. Yet, despite the fight, Wall-E had lost.

Now, EVE was going to finish it. She tossed the despicable object out of the Crawler and as it hung in mid-air, she aimed at it with her laser cannon and disintegrated it.

EVE set aside the power assembly and looked into the open cavity of her beloved's lifeless body. She cupped his head with both fins and kissed him- a kiss that will give him life. Then EVE held his unresponsive hands with hers one last time, praying that this would finally work. EVE closed her eyes and took a deep breath before getting down to business.

She pulled the wires that used to connect to his old power assembly so that she could see them clearly. Then she opened the front panel on her body. If they can not find him some spare parts, then they will let the spare part come to him.

EVE resolved to be his spare part- his heart.

She fumbled inside her own circuitry for her more advanced power core and disconnected it. Her systems briefly shut down from the sudden loss of power, until her back-up power would kick in. When it did, EVE knew that she only had twenty minutes to finish the job. She only had twenty minutes and she could not extend that deadline any more for her back-up power relied on energy from her main power core to recharge. This would be the most important twenty minutes in her entire life.

As she ran on back-up power, she got to work.

Fifteen minutes were spent reconfiguring Wall-E's old wiring to accept the new power core. It was difficult but she somehow managed to make ends meet. Literally. Then came the moment of truth: She activated the power core and waited, hoping that it would work.

Nothing happened.

EVE fixed the wires, disconnected and connected them again and made sure everything was set right. Still, nothing happened. "No!" Now she was getting frustrated and angry as it did not work. EVE had only two minutes to make it work.

It took her one minute to fix it all up again and still it did not work. Wall-E was not accepting her power core! She was mad at fate for not answering her prayers- for being cruel to her. Now she was once again mad at Wall-E for not accepting her heart! Literally!

Why wouldn't it work? She only had a few more seconds and still, she desperately tried, "Wall-E.. Please.."

Yet he still would not accept her power core.

**BACK-UP ENERGY LEVEL CRITICAL. SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IN 15 SECONDS.**

EVE yelled in frustration, as she rewired the circuits once again. Still, Wall-E did not accept her heart, "Wall-E.. For.. Me.."

Then she looked into her beloved's dead eyes, hoping for any sign of life.

Instead, his eyes made her understand...

Wall-E knew what life really was all about, and that was why he was not accepting her power core. And that feeling inside her, that realization that woke up when she kissed his lifeless body, became clear to her.

Throughout their ordeal, her beloved taught her one important lesson- one lesson that was the most important to Wall-E: a lesson that allowed him to live above and beyond his existence- a lesson that he had been rubbing off on her.

Even though EVE now knew what life really was to Wall-E, she insisted on giving priority to his existence. Through that, EVE realized that she had been stubborn and self-centered. She did not want to be alone.

Aside from that, all the positives like love, dancing, happiness, joy, etc. and all the negatives like anger, frustration, fear, dissapointment, hate...

All those feelings that she felt and expressed, even life...

Her thoughts, her personality...

Wall-E had taught her how to be human. He gave her the ability to experience all the positives and all the negatives of life. He gave her the ability to live. He gave her the ability to love him back, to commit to him, even to hurt him. She was not simply EVE, as in E.V.E.- she was EVE, as in Eve. She was, like Wall-E, human.

Fate had never been cruel to her- In fact, fate had nothing to do with anything whatsoever. It was Wall-E all along. Until his last breath and even beyond that, he continued to love her...

He never forgot.

"Wall-E..." EVE said once again, and cried for him, both out of joy and out of sorrow. But most importantly, she cried because she can.

**BACK-UP ENERGY LEVEL CRITICAL. SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IN 5 SECONDS.**

EVE reached out for Wall-E's hand, her love, and held it tightly just as she lost total control of her system.

* * *

**A/N**

**Depressing isn't it?**

**We're almost done with this crazy ride. Just a few more chapters and this story is over. Hope you guys all stick around for that.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N **

**Thought I'd finish this chapter up as my belated Christmas gift and an advanced New Year's gift to you guys. This chapter is pretty short but I hope you all will enjoy it.**

* * *

The rays of the morning sun gave light to the dust that swirled amidst an immobile vehicle that had planted itself on the barren wasteland. A dust storm had passed the previous night and the vehicle did an excellent job of protecting its broken occupants.

The sound of the wind tearing through dust that had been kicked up was joined by a new, non-natural sound, created by a man-made machine. The sound preceded said machine as it hovered over a hill and approached the derelict truck.

The machine, revealed to be a tram, gradually slowed to a stop beside the large vehicle. Four skids began to extend from underneath the tram, laying gently on the ground as the engine was shut. The doors opened and three figures exited.

Two of the figures were human. The remaining one, a robot. They approached the derelict truck and sailed to the back, where the huge cargo doors were located.

The humans were unidentifiable as they had scarves over their faces to protect their sinuses from the unrelenting dust and they had goggles on to keep their eyes safe. One of the humans held a small device in his hand which beeped louder than their footsteps.

The other human retrieved a small laser pistol from his belt holster, just in case.

"Relax, thing's been dead for more than eight centuries." the one with the beeping device told his companion.

"You never can tell. You were the one who said to be ready for anything." the one with the weapon replied.

"Oh I did, didn't I?" he chuckled.

"Are you sure they're here?" the man peered over his companion's shoulder, attempting to catch a glimpse at the device's reading.

The man fiercely tapped the side of the device with his palm, shaking off the dust that had accumulated on its screen and its internal systems, "Yes. Most reliable tracker in the Axiom." Then he reached for the lever on the side of the truck.

But before he could pull it down to activate the mechanism that would open the door, his companion firmly held his arm and motioned for him to move aside. Without a word, the tracker device wielder obliged.

The other man raised his pistol before pulling the lever. Slowly, the huge door opened.

"Whoa!" the man with the device exclaimed as the contents of the derelict vehicle were revealed. The monotony of the vehicle's interior was broken by two objects that lay on the middle of the floor, broken and dismantled. One was worse than the other.

The man with the weapon aimed it inside the vehicle and scanned the interior with it, unsure of what had done this to their two targets. Then he felt his companion's hand lowering his weapon arm. His companion then stowed the tracking device on his belt and approached the objects on the ground, removing his goggles and lowering his scarf in the process.

The man with the weapon spoke, "You be careful Ted, we don't know what or who had done this to them."

"Aye, Captain G." He then bent down and examined the objects.

After seeing no immediate threat, the Captain holstered his pistol and called their robot companion to come over and examine the objects.

The machine hovered alongside Ted, a blue scan light appeared from its head and swept the two machines. "The EVE probe suffered no lasting damage to her systems aside from a missing power core. Recommend sending her to the Axiom for a full system scan and diagnosis... The other object is unclassifiable. No detailed information exists."

Ted inched over to the unclassifiable object and examined it himself.

"So, how's Wall-E?" Captain Gregory asked.

Ted shook his head dejectedly as he fumbled inside the robot's processor, "No use. His power assembly is completely destroyed. The chemical compound inside his battery had eaten away at his circuitries. But what intrigues me is that some outside force was the cause of its destruction."

"Is he still salvageable?"

"There's no use. He's gone."

"If we can access EVE's camera, we could get an idea of what happened to them," Captain Gregory then approached Ted and laid a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry."

Ted sighed, "I'm sorry too... We've both lost a friend."

"Ted, you know we can only take one of them back."

"Couldn't we make some room for them both?"

"As much as I love to, we did not expect both of them to be in this condition."

"I understand." Silence followed.

Captain Gregory knelt and observed EVE and Wall-E's remains before finally saying, "I'm going for EVE."

"No, I say Wall-E." Ted replied.

"We need EVE in Hope."

Ted stood up until he was face to face with Captain Gregory, "No. Wall-E. It is what EVE would've wanted."

"Well, now that Wall-E is gone, and we could do nothing to bring him back, what use would he be to us? Sentimental value? Ted, Wall-E was the symbol of our dark past. We live in the present- in a redeveloping world."

"No. Wall-E was the symbol of light- of life in that dark past and we would not be here without him."

"Yes I know. And we are extremely grateful for what he did. But Wall-E had already done his job for us and the community. His part is over. We have to move past symbols and move on to action. Actions give fruitition to symbols. Right now, EVE is the form of action."

Ted was silent.

"Due to the distance and dangers this place has, I wouldn't sanction a second return here. But if you really want to get both of them back, then I will allow you to come back here for Wall-E."

Ted gave a breath of reluctant agreement, "If EVE found out... She will not cooperate with us. He's too much a part of her already."

"We won't activate her until you get him back."

"What if I don't?"

"If you don't, and EVE won't cooperate... Then we will be forced to wipe her memory banks clean. There really is no other choice as Wall-E is gone to us now, and EVE is a very important asset to the community. I do not want to lose her."

Ted let out a sigh, "Then... It seems that EVE... Is the 'logical' choice."

The captain sadly nodded, "I'm sorry."

"I'm really going to miss Wall-E."

Captain Gregory placed a reassuring hand on Ted's shoulder, "I miss him already. But rest assured, we'll find a way to come back here and take him home."

The historian took one last look at his dead friend, wiping a single tear from his eye before working on unclasping EVE and Wall-E's hands, "Um... Could you give me a hand here, Captain G?"

The captain knelt down beside the historian and began working his way through the robotic fingers, "Man, she's got a pretty strong grip!"

Ted was in the process of pulling the fingers with both of his hands until he got his finger trapped in between EVE and Wall-E's, "Gaaah!" The captain dropped what he was doing and focused his attention on helping Ted get his finger free.

After some struggle, Ted managed to pull it out. He vigorously shook his hand to disperse the pain, "EVE's magnetic field hasn't fully dissipated yet."

Captain Gregory whistled for their robot to come over and demagnetize the hands. After that, they pulled EVE's fingers off Wall-E's hand one by one. Then they hauled EVE onto the tram. Since EVE was not in her egg form, they had to bring her piece-by-piece. The robot carried her body, Gregory carried her fins and fingers, and Ted carried her head and her power core.

When they were about to leave, Ted returned to Wall-E's remains. He bent down so he could be eye-level with his friend's lifeless head and spoke, "Hey bud, I'm really sorry we couldn't do anything else to help you out, much less bring you along with us... But I promise I'll be back for you. For the meantime..." He pulled out a knife from his belt, "Just in case, I have to do this for EVE. I know you'll understand."

With the knife, Ted pried open the protective casing that housed Wall-E's memory banks. Despite the amount of corrosive chemicals that were stained on the casing, the memory banks were still perfectly intact. He then took the banks out and kept it in his pockets. After that, he stood up, took one last look at his friend, and left.

* * *

The stalker kept a good distance away as he watched the last human to leave the Land Crawler and enter the tram. It waited until the vehicle was out of sight before it approached the derelict Crawler. It was a very long trip, but it had managed to follow the white probe and its yellow companion all the way here.

At first, the figure was afraid that it was too late for the wall-e unit. By now, the wall-e was already gone. So, with whatever speed its treads could muster, the robot sped up to the Crawler. That was until a tram came and deposited two humans and a single robot.

The robot could not believe what it was seeing. After more than eight hundred years, it did not believe that it would ever see another human again... But here...

For eight hundred years, the robot had lived and survived in the deserted depths of Clark base, living off whatever spare parts were left intact in the base. Every once in a while it would go out in search of humans that could be trusted with its special cargo. Finally, its purpose would be fulfilled.

However, it could not confront the humans as they might be hostile. So, it stopped a good distance away, thankful that its orange-colored frame blended well with the barren, desert landscape. Now that the humans were gone, and took with them the remains of the white probe that constantly kept watch on the target wall-e, it was the perfect opportunity to make its move.

The humans will be back for the wall-e so it did not have much time. The robot jump started its motors and rolled towards the Crawler, the sunlight illuminating the designation number on its back: **NS-L15G**.

The robot rolled up to the interior of the Crawler and examined the wall-e unit on the floor. The wall-e's front panel and other interior parts and processors where scattered all over the floor. Nearly every piece of the parts were covered and destroyed by battery chemical. The orange robot assumed that the white probe must have ravaged the wall-e in an attempt to repair it yet failed in doing so.

The machine opened its built-in compartment and retrieved a long, cylindrical case of some sort. The case was sturdy enough to house important documents for an untold number of years. The robot had protected the case's contents for more than eight hundred years and now that it saw humans again, hopefully things would change for the better. It did not know if these humans could be trusted, but it had to entrust the contents to more capable hands.

Something told the robot that it was the right thing to do.

Again, it activated its motors and approached the wall-e to examine it. Protocol stated that it must determine the unit's designation number first to keep logs. When it found out this wall-e's designation number, the robot nearly jumped in surprise.

It had not seen this little guy since the day it came over with a broken hand eight hundred and fifty years ago.

The robot accessed its directive list. It took longer for its systems to retrieve the file.

Understandable, since its core system was over eight centuries old. Soon enough, the list came up:

**DIRECTIVES:**

**PRIMARY: ENSURE OPTIMUM FUNCTIONALITY OF ALL NS-L15 WALL-E UNITS. CONDUCT REPAIRS WHEN DEEMED NECESSARY.  
SECONDARY: MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH LAND CRAWLER NS-L15 AT ALL TIMES AND MONITOR VEHICLE SYSTEMS.**

To the robot however, these directives were the old ones- the ones programmed in it and its brethren since the start of Operation: Cleanup. Ever since that fiasco in Clark Base eight hundred and fifty years ago, the list was updated by a group of humans. If its memory chip could recall, the leader of the humans was one Engineer Steve Matthews.

The robot dismissed these old directives and brought up the new list that had been programmed in its system:

**DIRECTIVES:**

**PRIMARY: ENSURE OPTIMUM FUNCTIONALITY OF ALL WALL-E UNITS. UNINSTALL EACH KILLSWITCH IN EACH UNIT.  
SECONDARY: IF A WALL-E UNIT POSSESSES NO KILLSWITCH, INSTALL PROGRAM BYX465P3.  
TERTIARY: SEEK HUMAN PRESENCE AND ENTRUST IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS AND BLUEPRINTS TO THEM IF DEEMED TRUSTWORTHY**

The robot approached the mangled heap of yellow and grey and examined the processor.

The killswitch could not be found, which was good.

**Program BYX465P3** was installed and had been functioning perfectly. In fact, it had surprisingly evolved and it was unbelievably complex.

As complex as life itself, the robot mused. That was good.

The robot let out a sigh of guilt. If only it did not get lost during the sandstorm, it would have been able to perform its new directives to the other wall-e units. Then, probably, this Wall-E right here would not have been the only one left all these centuries. It refocused its attention to Program BYX465P3 that it retrieved from this Wall-E. It was amazed at the program's complexity. The hex codes and data streams were far more advanced than the one the robot had in its own processor.

Yet, the program was not this complex when it was installed in the Wall-E more than eight hundred years ago... What did the program do anyway?

Well, the program gave the robots 'survival instincts'. Since Clark base would be inoperational from BnL corporation's shutdown, the wall-e's would have to find another way to repair themselves. Giving value to life and finding ways in order to keep themselves up and running would be the best way to ensure that they continue the operation. That is what the program does.

And it seems, to this particular Wall-E unit, the program eventually caused the unit to develop a personality of its own. If only the robot could smile, it would. It laid the precious cylindrical container next to the remains and checked its directives again.

The late Engineer Steve Matthews' sacrifice was not in vain.

* * *

**A/N**

**Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N**

**I'm really sorry for the very long update. I can explain... I have some excuses... But who cares about them anyway, right? As long as you guys get to read the next chapter, no one cares about the excuses... Until you finish reading the chapter.**

**Anyway, I have to apologize to you since I will be abandoning this story.**

**Why? You may ask... It's simple. It's because we have reached the end. There will be no more chapters after the end. Since I won't be writing anymore chapters after this, you can say that I'll abandon it.**

**I had such a blast writing this story and I hope you guys had a blast reading it. Thank you very much.**

**Again, for the last time, to those who had forgotten the disclaimer I wrote in the first chapter, I shall say it once again...**

**I own Wall-E and EVE. Everything related to the movie Wall-E is mine and mine alone. I just sold it to Pixar and... *wakes up to the sound of an alarm clock***

**Oh... I must have been dreaming...**

* * *

"So, you're awake."

EVE's oculars adjusted as the bright, predominantly white room came into focus.

"You were pretty banged up when we found you." The voice continued.

"Where?" was the first word she uttered as she scanned for the owner of the voice. She found it difficult to move.

"You're back in the Axiom, in the repair ward." It was Captain Gregory.

EVE's eyes flashed him a question- a question she dare not asked, for fear of the worst. Somehow, deep down inside, she already knew. But the good captain understood and answered differently, "We had to demagnetize you to get you back. Your magnetic fields are still synchronizing with your parts so movement will be difficult for the next couple of minutes. Once they are in sync, you will be able to move just fine."

EVE however, no longer paid attention to him. Her eyes were downcast as she remained hovering under the diagnostic machine.

"EVE, we really need you back here." There was a pause as the captain searched EVE for some sort of reaction. When he found none, he continued, "I know that things are hard for you, so I'll give you time."

She still wasn't paying attention.

"Ted went back out there to get him, if that would help make you feel better."

EVE briefly made eye contact with the captain before casting her eyes downwards. Gregory pulled out Wall-E's memory banks from his pocket and approached the probe, "Um... We thought you might want to have these." then he handed the banks to her.

Finally, she lifted her head to look at the parts. Everything about Wall-E's personality and his memories were in those banks. It was Wall-E- or at least, his mind. EVE gently took the banks with both her fins and held them with great care. As she held them, she felt Wall-E's presence- as if he was still alive and there with her that very moment.

As she examined the memory banks in her hands, she realized that she was actually holding herself.

EVE opened her bio-stasis chamber and placed them neatly inside. Once the chamber closed, it will never open for anything else. Then she hovered passed the captain, stopping briefly to say, "Thank you." Before leaving the room.

"Yeah, just come see me when you're ready..."

The probe stopped briefly and without facing the captain, she nodded. Then she was on her way again.

* * *

EVE only returned to their home once. Being there simply reminded her so much of him that it became even harder for her. So the next couple of days, she'd live in the Axiom, back in the room she usually shared with her sisters before they moved to Earth.

The void that he left behind was so much that EVE had actually thought about having her memory banks wiped clean. But she knew Wall-E would hate her for that. Besides, if she did not have any recollection of Wall-E, then she would throw away his memory banks that she kept protectively in her bio-stasis chamber. That would be like an insult or a double kill to Wall-E.

It would be inhumane.

It would mean that she was throwing away everything that Wall-E was, everything that he taught her... It would mean that she simply regarded Wall-E as,

**wall-e: designation NS-L-713**

**status: inactive**

Being human meant experiencing both the ups and downs of life. So EVE tried to find ways to keep her mind off him. That did not mean that she forgot him; she just was trying to cope up with his loss and that was what she believed to be the best thing to do.

Everyday, morning and night, she'd stay at the edge of town, waiting for any sign of Ted to come back with her Wall-E. Maybe, having his body right beside her would help ease her pain. Though she knew it was not going to help, at least he was there. In some way.

In the middle of the day, she'd go to work, helping the humans out with various projects. Captain Gregory would usually be pleased with her work as she'd do it much better than she used to. Working hard and pleasing people helped her keep her mind off Wall-E.

"A job well done, EVE!" One of the humans said, as EVE installed the roof of a new home. Both the robots and humans that worked on the house cheered and praised EVE for her help. Seeing their happy faces, the camaraderie between the humans and robots, and the development of the outer circle, EVE couldn't help but smile herself. This was what Wall-E wanted.

Wall-E... Suddenly her demeanor had changed and her gloominess stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the celebrating crowd.

That night, EVE watched the endless horizon at the edge of the outer circle, hoping for any sign of movement. Tonight, she kept reminding herself, Ted would come with Wall-E.

Tonight, he did not come as well.

The next day she'd be in the same spot, waiting for Ted and Wall-E. Today, she kept reminding herself, Ted would come with Wall-E.

Today, he did not come as well.

She'd then leave for work, make more people happy, then be back again that night. If it was possible, she would have flown herself to get Wall-E back. But the coordinates to the Land Crawler were erased from her system when she came back. Only Ted knew where it was and now he's out of reach.

Well, the Land Crawler was hundreds of miles away. It would take him days to get there, and then the same number of days to get back. The hover tram he was using weren't all that fast. What would normally take her two days to travel might take twice the amount of time for a tram to cover the same distance.

That night, EVE sighed as she settled herself in her own perch back in the Axiom. Normally, she would shut down in order not to have time to think about Wall-E, but tonight she figured that maybe thinking about him would help her heal. It was a crazy idea. It was illogical.

But she was only human.

EVE decided to take a stroll in the Axiom, remembering everything about her beloved. His old voice, his personality, his trinkets, their adventures together, his hand... She constantly searched her memories, searching for the one that would bring him back to her. Eventually EVE found herself back in the diagnostic room. For some odd reason- maybe it was desperation, EVE approached the console and activated it.

**PLEASE ENTER UNIT DESIGNATION: _____________**

EVE began typing: **_NS-L-713_**

**UNKNOWN OBJECT. NOT IN DATABASE**

EVE sighed, as the screen returned to its original page,

**PLEASE ENTER UNIT DESIGNATION: ________________**

This time, EVE typed: _**EA-001**_

**SEARCHING...**

**MATCH FOUND.**

**UNIT: Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator**

**MODEL: Probe 1.**

**RUN DIAGNOSTICS?**

**_Yes._**

**PLEASE PUT THE UNIT UNDER THE DIAGNOSTIC MACHINE.**

EVE hovered under the large apparatus and waited as a blue scanner swept through her. A beep in the console told her that the diagnostic was complete. She went back to the screen and checked.

**DIAGNOSTIC COMPLETE.  
NO ISSUES OR PROBLEM IN SYSTEM ALL ASSETS IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER ANOMALY DETECTED IN BIO-STASIS CHAMBER**

**1. RUN DIAGNOSTICS AGAIN?  
2. MORE OPTIONS**

EVE chose the second selection.

**MORE OPTIONS:  
1. INVESTIGATE ANOMALY **

**2. CHECK FOR SOFTWARE UPDATES **

**3. CHECK FOR UPGRADES IN ASSETS **

**4. TECHNICAL SUPPORT**

She picked the fourth.

**ENTER SEARCH QUERY: ________**

**_Heartache._**

**SEARCHING...**

**NO RESULTS FOUND. NEAREST MATCHES:**

**1. POWER CORE FAILURE**

**SEARCH AGAIN?**

EVE selected "Search again?" and typed,

**_Emptiness._**

**SEARCHING...**

**NO RESULTS FOUND. NEAREST MATCHES:**

**1. POWER CORE LEAK **

**2. PROBLEMS WITH RECHARGING**

**SEARCH AGAIN?**

EVE groaned. The know-it-all master computer of the Axiom knew nothing about her, or who that 'anomaly' in her bio-stasis chamber was. She sighed and searched again, this time she typed,

**_Wall-E._**

**SEARCHING...**

**NO RESULTS FOUND.**

**SEARCH AGAIN?**

**_Waste Allocation Load Lifter- Earth class_**

**SEARCHING...**

**NO RESULTS FOUND. NEAREST MATCHES:**

**1. PREVENTING FOREIGN CONTAMINATION IN SYSTEM **

**2. DAMAGES FROM EARTH DEBRIS **

**3. DAMAGES FROM ATMOSPHERIC TOXICITY**

**SEARCH AGAIN?**

EVE sighed. This was useless. The computer doesn't know what it's supposed to search for... What's the point- she herself's even getting confused as to what she was supposed to search for either.

For the rest of the night, EVE spent it outside the Axiom watching the stars and hoping that he'd come down from one of them and really be with her, instead of just watching her. If she could fly up there and actually meet him, she would.

But she had lost her will to fly.

So she settled on simply searching for him- her star, somewhere up there, amongst billions of others, in the place she can never reach.

**SEARCHING...**

* * *

Over a week had passed since Ted left to get Wall-E and until now, he hasn't returned yet.

EVE's heartache kept growing and the void did not even fill up just one bit. Lots of people and sometimes even M-O would spend some time with her, trying to cheer her up. But they failed. All they'd get from EVE would be a 'fake' smile.

And they did not understand it.

EVE was worried that Ted would not make it back, but the captain reassured her that it will be alright. He said that it took them five days just to get to the Land Crawler, and another five to get back to Hope. She just had to be a bit more patient.

But she couldn't take the loneliness, the pain, and the fruitless searching anymore. That day, EVE went to the only person who would understand what she was going through...

"Come in." A frail and burdened voice came from the other side of the door. Slowly, EVE opened the door to the darkened room, and transfixed her eyes to the figure that lay still on the bed, the darkness masking the figure's characteristics. As she entered, the sound of her hovering rang like music into the figure's ears. Even though EVE couldn't see the figure's face, she knew that the figure was smiling.

As the light from the previous room illuminated this darkened room, EVE could clearly see the figure's smiling face- its head turned towards her direction.

"Oh, EVE my dear. I am so happy to see you."

EVE approached the side of the figure's bed and laid a fin on the figure's wrinkled hand. Her electronic eyes contorted in upward crescents to represent the joy she felt upon seeing an old friend.

"Where's Wall-E?" the figure spoke.

The foot of the bed found favor in EVE's eyes.

"Don't worry dear." The figure smiled, "You don't have to tell me. I heard the news from Ted."

EVE beeped.

"It's hard, I know." The figure continued, "But that's what life is all about. That's what being human is all about."

EVE listened.

"You win some, you lose some- that's what they used to say." The figure chuckled. EVE could not share in the human's humor, but she smiled to show her appreciation. "You know EVE... When John and I found each other... I didn't win some- I won everything."

"Mary..." EVE whispered.

"Then," Mary continued, "When he was gone... I was supposed to lose everything. Whoever gains everything, then loses it, loses everything. But you know, as time passed, you will come to realize that you actually lost nothing at all." Mary gently took EVE's fin and continued, "In fact, you'll even gain something. John... He gave me something... Ted."

EVE simply stared into the old woman's eyes as she continued, "Don't think that you lost everything, EVE. You had lost nothing, and I am pretty sure Wall-E even gave you something."

The probe let go of Mary's hand and for the first time in days, opened her bio-stasis chamber to retrieve the memory banks. She gave it to Mary, who took it in her frail hands with utmost care, and examined the objects.

"Wall-E." EVE weakly said.

Mary brushed the memory banks with her fingers and smiled, "He's still beautiful, EVE. Don't even think that you're alone, as you never were."

"You know, you should take very good care of what he gave you, just how I took very good care of Ted. Through that, you will come to see that Wall-E is still alive."

EVE sighed.

"I know it's hard EVE, and I am actually proud that you are having a hard time. You are learning and keeping up, EVE... Because you are human."

At that, EVE suddenly felt weak. Yes, she realized before that she was human, but... Hearing those words from a human, the realization really dawned on her and it hit her hard. All the pent up emotions of losing Wall-E rose up like a volcano and she just felt it explode. She lowered her head on the bed and emitted a series of robotic moans and wails, accented by the distressed contortion of her beautiful blue eyes. It instantly registered to Mary that EVE was crying. She gently rubbed her hand on the mourning probe's fin to comfort her, "There, there, my dear. Don't hold it all in. It is very healthy for a human who had lost a loved one to cry."

"Wall-E..." EVE managed to say as her electronic cacophony of grief filled the room.

It took a while for EVE to calm down. It was the first time in EVE's entire life to have actually 'cried'. It was a weird feeling and she didn't like it as it brought out all the pain...

And all the love at the same time.

Crying wasn't really so bad afterall. Silence filled the room as EVE finished expressing her loss and she soon found herself staring blankly at the bed sheet, seemingly deep in thought, "What... Now?"

Mary answered her question with a smile, "You are one lucky robot." Mary returned the memory banks to EVE, who took it and sealed it away in her bio-stasis chamber, "Keep it."

EVE sighed, "Ted... Not here yet."

Mary chuckled and broke eye contact with the probe, staring straight up at the ceiling, "I have a story I wanted to share with you... I read in some of the books that Ted brought me that a long time ago, we humans would usually look for the right person to be with. They keep searching for "The One" that would complete their lives. I would laugh at that, as based on both our experiences, we did not have to look for "The One"- they just came into our lives. And then, once you find that one person, you will never have to search for him ever again. Our ancestors were like that: when they found the right person, never again did they search for another one.

To tell you the truth, I thought that would also apply to us- the ones who did not have to look. I was wrong. Our scenario is completely opposite from theirs. After our special someone is gone, that's when we begin our search... You know, ever since John left us, I kept searching for him in the stars...

Then I realized that again, I was wrong all along. Truth was, it didn't matter how you find that right person- as soon as you find him, never will you have to search again... John..." then Mary lifted a hand and gently placed it on her heart. "He's been here all along... EVE, the reason why you can't find Wall-E, is because he's not where you are looking at... The reason why you are hurting is because in your desperate search for him, you are actually neglecting him. You constantly look elsewhere when in actuality, all you have to look at..." from her heart, Mary then placed her hand on EVE's chest- on her bio-stasis chamber.

Mary's actions struck a nerve in EVE's systems. Her heart suddenly jumpstarted, as if it was being filled again. Her once empty heart slowly began to bleed as a small part of the void was filled.

It suddenly pained her.

Mary compassionately looked straight into EVE's eyes and continued, a smile forming on her lips, "Wall-E is right here. He's not in the stars, my dear... He is right in there."

EVE slowly comprehended what Mary just said. She lifted her fins and placed them on her chest- on her bio-stasis chamber and began to look for him there. She closed her eyes and tried to feel his presence. Then, another small part of the void began to fill up. Due to that, the bleeding became worse.

"He's right there, EVE. The way you act, the way you feel, the sound of your laughter, the tears you shed just now, the love you held.... Basically, your humanity... That is all him. That's what he had given you. Keep it."

EVE's eyes shot open as Mary's words came to life- as Wall-E came to life inside her. A huge part of the void filled up, and her heart bled profusely from that. The realization brought upon her even more pain...

Mary continued, "Let me tell you one thing, dear... Life is actually miserable. It is a horrible thing, you know. We are put in this world, only to be eventually taken away. Life is not our own possession and we can not dictate what it should do. That is why it is miserable. But you know, what makes life beautiful is what you do with it in the short amount of time you have it. We won't have life forever, EVE, and even if it is a cruel thing... That short time where we have life, we can do and experience so many things- both bad... and good. That short time is what matters and what makes it worthwhile to have. Even if life will be gone, that short span of time that we still have it is what makes life beautiful."

EVE's eyes narrowed, as if they were ready to burst with tears.

"EVE, do not look at how cruel life is by looking at the end of it. Instead, look at what's in between the beginning and end of life. By looking at that and seeing the beauty of it, you will soon come to realize that life will never seem to end even if it will."

EVE let out a moan and shook her head, probably in disbelief, or because she did not want to accept this thing that Wall-E gave her.

However, Mary knew better. EVE was being 'illogical', shaking her head to stop herself from crying yet again.

Shaking her head because she was being stubborn.

Shaking her head because she wanted Wall-E instead.

Shaking her head because she was human.

Shaking her head because she wanted to get rid of all the pain.

Shaking her head because the reason why she was feeling this insurmountable pain was because Wall-E loved her just as much.

Shaking her head because she realized that no matter what separated Wall-E and herself: space, worlds, even life and death, they will always find a way back to each other. One fact remained since then until now: Never did Wall-E fail in his commitment... Not one bit.

Once again, EVE's head flopped on the bed. She grasped the cotton bed sheets with her hands,

and felt the sheets rest comfortably in between her fingers, turning into rugged, rusty, ugly, damaged dark fingers that contorted perfectly in her hands. Then like a human, EVE's cacophony of grief echoed the healing of her broken heart.

* * *

That night, EVE spent the evening back in their home. She played "Hello, Dolly" while she browsed through all of Wall-E's treasures, examining them and remembering the good times they had together. Then she opened the secret compartment where Wall-E kept his broken parts and took them out. At first she had planned on throwing them away, but she thought otherwise.

Instead, EVE rolled the rollers until the empty spare part shelves were in front of her. Then she neatly placed all of the broken parts on the shelves. After she was done, she continued watching the movie.

At the time "It Only Takes A Moment Played", EVE hummed along, feeling the void in her empty heart begin to fill up again. Then as the lovers in the film held each other's hands, EVE placed her fins on her chest and felt Wall-E's memories right through the stored memory banks.

As the song continued to play, she left the Crawler and rested on the roof, staring up at the stars in the night sky. This time, she no longer searched for Wall-E in the stars; instead, she watched the stars with him.

EVE gently closed her eyes and smiled, as she felt him right there inside her. She then felt him hold her hand.

And never did Wall-E let go of it. Not before, not now, not ever.

And she will hold his- she always did, ever since before, until now, and forevermore.

Yes, Mary was right. Life is beautiful.

"And that is all that love's about...

And we'll recall when time runs out...

That it only took a moment...

To be loved...

...a whole life long..."

* * *

**A/N **

**So that wraps up my tale.**

**As I was writing this story, I couldn't decide how to end it: good or sad. So I decided to make it bittersweet and more open ended. It's up to you how you want the ending to be because I figured this is the best place to end it. It helps make EVE and Wall-E's relationship much deeper and meaningful because they still feel the same for each other despite being apart. If I extended it, I feel that I'll lose that power and the story will drag too much.**

**Again, if you want me to clarify anything- anything at all, just tell me and I will spoil you. :-)**

**Thank you for reading this story.**


End file.
